Sept. 10, 2014

Cabs install cameras Local, page 8

O-Week infractions minimal

Arkells return to Laurier Arts & Life, page 13

THE CORD

Campus, page 4

THE TIE THAT BINDS WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY SINCE 1926

VOLUME 55 ISSUE 5 SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

TRAGEDY AT UW Local, page 8

HEATHER DAVIDSON/PHOTO EDITOR

HOUSING

Tenants displaced due to construction delays 1 Columbia residents were unable to move in on Sept. 4 CONNOR WARD LEAD REPORTER

On Sept. 4, residents of the new student apartment being built at 1 Columbia Street were supposed to move into the development. However, days before, it was revealed to the incoming tenants that their suites would not be available for move-in on the aforementioned date.

“We were supposed to move in on the fourth, and I think the lease actually started on the fourth,” said Dylan Bannister, one of 1 Columbia’s leaseholders. “They had hinted we might not move in the weekend

before, and I think on the Friday they said they might be set back. Then on the Monday they actually told us we wouldn’t be moving in.”

The apartment developers, Schembri Property Management, had apparently informed leaseholders of construction delays, but mentioned they were finishing construction as quick as possible.

“They’ve avoided giving us any hard date as to when our move-in would be, so they basically don’t know,” said Bannister.

Schembri has offered to either move the building’s leaseholders into existing company-owned

properties in Waterloo or pay for hotel residence. Some leaseholders are concerned the rented hotels may be too far from campus, providing added difficulty to attend class.

“My roommate actually has to shuttle up to the school every day.

They do provide a shuttle bus, but it’s pretty inconvenient, doesn’t run a lot and goes at weird times. So it’s quicker to take the bus,” said Bannister. upon the start of a September lease can often be an issue. This reality makes it necessary for tenants to carefully read over their lease agreements.

Local, page 10

HEATHER DAVIDSON/PHOTO EDITOR

2 •

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

VOCAL CORD

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

What’s your opinion about classes starting earlier this year?

“Enh...”

–Brad Wickman, firstyear computer science

“It was rough.”

KHA VO/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

–Dan Huynh, first-year chemistry

First-year students attend the headphone party in the Quad during the On-Campus Celebration last Tuesday during Orientation Week.

Present your valid post-secondary student photo ID on TUESDAYS and receive a 10% discount on almost anything!

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“I didn’t really mind it.”

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–Alexa Bloom, first-year communications

Student discount offered on Tuesdays at Bob’s Valu-mart

“it was a jump-start to the semester.”

Get the ramen and the coffee.

–Robert Palczynski, third-year psychology

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Open 8:00am - 10:00pm every day Town Located in The Shops at Waterloo W T Square. 75 King Street, Waterloo, W ON. 519-884-5511 “It was worth it to get a reading week.”

–Sam Meeks, secondyear business Compiled by Mynt Marsellus, photos by Kha Vo

CORD STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kate Turner kturner@thecord.ca SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Marissa Evans mevans@thecord.ca CREATIVE DIRECTOR Lena Yang lyang@thecord.ca WEB DIRECTOR Mynt Marsellus mmarsellus@thecord.ca CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR Shelby Blackley sblackley@thecord.ca

LOCAL NEWS EDITOR Vacant news@thecord,ca

PHOTO EDITOR Heather Davidson hdavidson@thecord.ca

LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER Kha Vo kvo@thecord.ca

FEATURES EDITOR Alanna Fairey afairey@thecord.ca

PHOTO EDITOR Will Huang whuang@thecord.ca

ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Bryan Stephens bstephens@thecord.ca

VIDEO EDITOR Vacant editor@thecord.ca

COPY EDITING MANAGER Andrew Harris aharris@thecord,ca

OPINION EDITOR Moyosore Arewa marewa@thecord.ca

LEAD REPORTER Kaitlyn Severin kseverin@thecord.ca

SPORTS EDITOR Josh Peters jpeters@thecord.ca

LEAD REPORTER Daina Goldfinger dgoldfinger@thecord.ca

GRAPHICS EDITOR Joshua Awolade jawolade@thecord.ca

LEAD REPORTER Connor Ward cward@thecord.ca

CONTRIBUTORS Rebecca Allison Spencer Gibara Scott Glaysher Laila Hack Victor Ly Shannon Millar Don Morgenson Cara Peticca Catherine Racher Amy Smith Matt Smith Jody Waardenburg Drew Yates Erika Ymana

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Quote of the week: “It’s the same reason we have condoms...just in case.”

-Lead Photographer Kha Vo re: selfie sticks

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

News

• 3

Senior News Editor Marissa Evans

Campus News Editor Shelby Blackley

employment

Local News Editor Vacant

Hope for post-grad New surveys show employment for graduates has risen daina goldfinger lead reporter

lena yang/creative director

According to a survey released by the Council of Ontario Universities, 93 per cent of university graduates have secured employment just two years after graduation. The survey also indicates that the average income amongst university graduates just two years after graduation is relatively high, at $49,398.

According to Bonnie Patterson, president and CEO of the COU, a survey was sent out to over 72,000 students who had graduated from undergraduate programs in 2011.

Out of these graduates, 34.7 per cent responded to generate the results.

Additionally, according to the survey conducted, the average annual salaries of 2011 graduates belonged to those who are employed as dentists, engineers, optometrists and veterinarians. The lower income levels averaged amongst graduates who had studied general arts, social sciences and humanities.

“We have to keep in mind when we look at those salaries that much happens between two to five and six years post-graduation,”said Patterson.

Wilfrid Laurier University also released a survey that looks at the rates of employment amongst undergraduate graduates.

According to Jan Basso, director of co-operative education and career development at WLU, the response rate to the survey was 83 per cent.

The survey conducted by WLU

indicated that 96 per cent of graduates in 2013 had plans after graduation — the other four per cent were unemployed. Out of the 96 per cent, 63.4 per cent are employed, 31 per cent are enrolled in further education and 1.5 per cent are pursuing other endeavors.

Patterson explained that the analytical skills, communication skills, problem-solving skills, writing skills and comparative analyses skills learned in university are typically required in the workplace, however graduates must be able to apply these skills correctly.

“I think what is really critical for students in terms of seeking jobs after graduation is that they have a clear sense of what kinds of skills they have and how they can be applied within specific industries,” said Basso.

Patterson also said that universities are starting to implement more hands-on programs into various faculties. These can include anything from co-op jobs to internships, to community-based research opportunities and practicum activities.

The purpose of these programs is to provide students with experiential learning that is needed to gain skills for the workforce.

Patterson explained that over the last 10 years, there has been a dramatic increase in employment rates amongst university graduates than in any other education attainment group.

The employment rates have fluctuated at a rate of almost 39 per cent

between 2002 and 2012, which represents more than 680,000 million jobs for university graduates.

Gilles Grenier, professor of economics at the University of Ottawa said, “Education is still a very productive investment and the data I have seen on that is that more than 90 per cent of university graduates will get jobs and most of them will get good jobs, but there are a lot of variations. Some of them get good jobs and some do not get jobs in their fields.”

Despite this assessment, the survey done by the COU demonstrates that two years after graduation, 78 per cent of graduates who are employed consider their work to be related to their field of study.

In order to be able to gain a good job following graduation however, university students must begin building their portfolios and skillsets early on.

The Co-op and Career Services Centre at WLU offers a variety of services that help students get a head start in their future careers.

These services include a number of workshops that aid in resume building, improving interview skills, job-search strategies and building one’s personal online brand.

Patterson concluded, “I think you need to be patient, you need to not give up, you need to land that first job, you need to think about the contacts you make, the events you attend, the places you travel, and really start building that portfolio of the skills you have early.”

education

Laurier classes highlighted as ‘cool’ Marissa evans senior news editor

Two courses at Wilfrid Laurier University have been dubbed some of the coolest classes in Canada.

An article published in the Huffington Post compiled by Rebecca Zamon called “Coolest Classes In Canada Will Make You Wish You Were Still a Student” features a list of courses offered at universities across the country.

The first is a second-year criminology course offered at the Brantford campus called Gangsters, Goodfellas and Wiseguys: A Criminological Study of Organized Crime.

The course was developed by Ken Dowler, associate professor and chair of criminology, who began teaching it in 2007 as a special topics course.

In 2008 it became a second-year course and has been run ever since.

“We max every year,” Dowler explained, referring to the capacity of the course sections. “We never had a section where it wasn’t full.”

Part of this is because there are no prerequisites to take the course, and so it attracts students from across disciplines.

“I teach in a way that you don’t need a background in criminology to take the course,” he continued.

Due to the popularity of the course, they have now developed two other courses that cover other parts of organized crime: outlaw bikers and international organized crime.

Dowler explained that the idea for the course came from personal

interest.

“My favourite show at the time was The Sopranos. I enjoyed watching The Sopranos and I also liked the movie Goodfellas.”

Accordingly, he tries to incorporate popular culture references into the course to help students relate to the material. For example, when explaining the concept of money laundering, he uses examples from Breaking Bad. “I’m teaching concepts as well as real life history behind it,” he said.

“I hope that I make it somewhat relevant to them.”

In the course, Dowler said he focuses on the five families in New York and talks about specific characters such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano.

“I think the students see that I have a passion for it and that helps, especially when you’re teaching so many people in one class.”

Dowler believes that it is the first of its kind to be offered at universities. Western University has developed a similar course using his syllabus.

The second course from Laurier that was listed is a first-year arts seminar called “History Whodunits.”

Susan Neylan, associate professor of Canadian culture and societal history, Aboriginal peoples and Western Canada, is currently developing the course which will be taught for the first time in the winter term.

“I’m a historian and so essentially it’s a course designed around the approach that historians often take, the historical method,” she explained.

joshua awolade/graphics editor

“Basically it’s a problems-based course trying to impart teaching how to argue with evidence.”

In the course, students will be looking at three real historical case studies which are all ambiguous in terms of an “answer.” One, she explained, will be from the 18th century and involves students trying to determine who burned down Montreal in 1734. A Portuguese-

born, black woman was executed for the crime, but students will need to examine real documents and analyse evidence to decide if she was the right person.

They will also be looking at case studies from the 19th and 20th century.

There will be 22 students in the class and it has been full for a while, Neylan said.

“I’m hoping that it can be a bit of skills development and also win them over to how cool history is,” she said.

“Historians are detectives,” Neylan said. “We have some ideas of answers in our mind, but we go into the archives with questions and we’re looking for evidence and we let the evidence tells us where we should go to next.”

4 • Campus news STUDENTS’ UNION

Webster moves to UW

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 ORIENTATION WEEK

Executive director leaves Union ERIKA YMANA STAFF WRITER

After 24 years, Roly Webster has left Wilfrid Laurier University.

The former executive director of the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union joined the University of Waterloo as their new director of athletics and recreation on Sept. 8.

Webster’s interest and experience in working in athletics for 13 years before the Students’ Union led him to take the opportunity.

He was a coordinator of facilities, events and sponsorship, and worked as a development officer managing promotions, sports information and media relations while working on department marketing strategies.

“I loved what I was doing. I wasn’t looking for a job, but it was really an opportunity that I couldn’t close the door on,” said Webster, referring to the time he spent at the Union.

Webster’s experience at Laurier greatly impacted his career, specifically his work with the Students’ Union. He enjoyed working closely with students to improve the overall student experience at the university.

“I owe a lot to Laurier, but specifically the Students’ Union was such an amazing experience, one that exceeded all expectations. It was amazing to get to work hand-inhand with the students on impacting the student experience at Laurier,” he said. “It was tough for me to consider to leave because I loved it so much.”

Although Webster is now working at a different school, the focus for him remains the same: student experience.

“With the environment of athletics, I’ve lived in that space so it comes pretty natural. I parked my car at a different institution today, but I’m very quickly comfortable around new surroundings.”

Webster is confident in the ability of the Students’ Union to find a successor for his position. He also believes that Sam Lambert, president and CEO of the Students’ Union, and Matt McLean, chair of the board and chief governing officer, are capable in moving the organization forward.

Chris Turner, the Students’ Union director of finance and administration, will move into the position as interim executive director. Turner often worked closely with Webster and Lambert on big projects, such as debt repayment to the university.

“He has the experience in areas that Roly did, so he’d be a really good support for myself, my team and the full-time staff while we’re searching for permanent positions,” Lambert explained.

The search for a permanent executive director will begin as soon as the job description is finalized and will then be open for three to four weeks.

The process will also entail a hiring panel that will consist of Lambert, McLean and others in the Union.

“We wish Roly good luck. We’re going to miss him because he did an unbelievable job here, but we’re excited for him and we wish him all the best,” Lambert said.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the Students’ Union.

I don’t think people give enough credit to that organization and what they do for students. I hope there are lots of candidates that are aware of that because that opportunity far exceeded any expectations that I had,” said Webster.

KHA VO/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

Students celebrate during On Campus Celebration Tuesday night. There were only four conduct infractions to the dean of students and three calls to ERT.

Campus incidents minimal No major infractions reported during O-Week, On Campus Celebration SHELBY BLACKLEY CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR

Drew Piticco, student conduct administrator at Wilfrid Laurier University, received only four student conduct infractions following the On Campus Celebration last week — the lowest amount of incidents in recent years.

“We had what I would call a very successful year this year,” he said.

“The year before it was about 18, and the year before that we had over 30.”

Piticco commended the work of Special Constable Service, Emergency Response Team and the Waterloo Regional Police Service throughout OCC, who were on site for the entire night to “de-escalate and manage issues on the ground.”

ERT coordinator Jordan Brazeau said ERT responded to only three calls, none of which were extreme.

“These first-years seemed really good this year,” Brazeau said.

“OCC is usually how we judge the week based on the rowdiness of the

first-years.”

“At the end of the day, we don’t want people to get hurt. We don’t want anybody to need us,” he continued.

As for the rest of the week, calls to ERT were lower than normal, dealing with minor incidents such as drunkrelated injuries, panic attacks, general sickness and random injuries.

“I think alcohol injuries were the lowest that I’ve seen,” Brazeau said.

Both Piticco and Brazeau said that working with SCS manager Tammy Lee and her team made for a stronger presence and response to concerns throughout Orientation Week.

According to Piticco the relationship between SCS and the dean of students office is stronger than it has been in the past.

“There’s been a lot of work over the summer to increase the communication lines between the dean of students office, Special Constable Service, Residence Life, that I think it has really paid off,” he explained.

Brazeau said Lee made a “huge effort, especially in OCC” to make SCS a strong, supportive presence. Lee went to all of the colour team meetings before dinner on Tuesday and spoke about safety measures.

According to Brazeau, nine special constable officers were on duty that night and each constable had a WRPS officer with them.

“The awareness that Tammy brought up was outstanding. There wasn’t an issue and if there was an issue, there were so many officers floating around that they were able to be resolved before it escalated.”

Statistics supplied by WRPS showed that the most common infraction to citizens was open liquor, with 48 incidences. WRPS recorded seven public intoxication infractions and three underage consumption of alcohol infringements. There were also seven public urination violations.

Piticco stressed that O-Week is supposed to be a safe and fun experience for students, and the lines of

“They’re there so that one first-year doesn’t ruin it for ten first-years.”

-Jordan Brazeau, ERT coordinator

communication between all parties was a major part of O-Week running with fewer incidents.

“There’s a lot more trust. And I think in that way we are responding a lot more appropriately to each incident that arises on our campus.”

Brazeau concluded by explaining that ERT, SCS and WRPS are not trying to ruin the O-Week experience.

“No one wants calls. They’re not looking for people and they’re not looking to get people in [trouble].

They’re there so that one first-year doesn’t ruin it for 10 first-years.”

FUNDRAISING

Shine Day total hits $86,000 KAITLYN SEVERIN LEAD REPORTER

Despite a severe thunderstorm throughout the Waterloo Region the day before, Wilfrid Laurier University’s Shine Day continued as planned to finish off Orientation Week on Saturday.

Shannon Hall, Shinerama coordinator on the Waterloo campus, believed everything went well despite the storm the day before.

“We had all of our stuff prepped beforehand, so the storm didn’t really affect us that much,” she said.

The final total donation for Shinerama has yet to be confirmed, but according to the Laurier Shinerama Facebook page, the money raised on Shine Day alone was approximately $86,582.65, which puts their total at around $127,000 this year.

The amount raised on Shine Day is approximately $4,771 less than last year’s total for the event.

Last year’s grand total was $142,923, as recorded in mid-March.

Laurier finished first for university fundraising, donating just over $3,000 more than McMaster University.

This year, Shine Day ran with three waves until approximately 4:30 p.m., with a positive reaction from students. According to Hall, it was much easier to get students out for Shine

Day, unlike the past two years where it rained on the event day.

“It was spitting a little bit in the morning, but I think we still got a lot of people out because most of the people check the weather and realized it was going to get better as the day went on, so we still had a really great turnout for it,” she said.

Shinerama is considered to be Canada’s largest fundraising event for Cystic Fibrosis awareness.

The campaign has raised $21.5 million since its beginning in 1961.

Laurier Shinerama starts raising money at the beginning of the summer, through their annual softball tournament, various barbecues, awareness events and a silent auction.

“I think we had a really great turnout to our awareness events during the week too, so that was really great to see and that’s part of what we do is raise awareness and educate people on [Cystic Fibrosis],” said Hall.

Hall also said there will be more Shinerama awareness campaigns throughout the year that the team is currently working on developing.

She also believes the students made the event a more successful one.

“Overall, I think it was really successful because we raised a lot of awareness for it and we also raised a lot of money.”

LENA YANG/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Campus news • 5

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 scandals

A closer look at Laurier culture MARISSA EVANS SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

In the past year, students across the country have drawn attention to their universities with displays of inappropriate behaviour and messages.

Last week, Brock University was in the spotlight after students held up a sign reading “Honk if you’re dropping off your daughter.” Earlier this week, images were posted to social media of Carleton University students wearing t-shirts displaying the phrase “Fuck Safe Space,” speaking against the university’s movement to create an environment on campus free of sexual harassment and homophobia.

While Wilfrid Laurier University hasn’t been among the universities featured in headlines, many feel there is a potential for similar scandals to happen anywhere.

Leanne Holland Brown, dean of students at Laurier’s Waterloo campus, gave a talk to Orientation Week volunteers at training about the importance of creating a safe campus.

“I think it could happen anywhere,” she said. “I think you do your best to train and educate and have the conversation, but ultimately there’s a lot of people and there are a lot of different moments in time where sometimes people are just no aware of the impact of something.”

TJ Cooper, a third-year health sciences student and icebreaker, explained that at the volunteer summer conference, O-Week volunteers went through a full day of training modules, which confronted them with different scenarios to teach them how to respond to potential incidents.

“There was a big focus on using inclusive language because at

Laurier you have people from all over the place, different experiences, different backgrounds and we want to make everybody feel welcome and at home,” he said. “So we have to be mindful of what we say.”

Cooper said he felt that the leaders took the training seriously and wanted to learn how to confront students should they hear them using problematic language.

Last January, McMaster University drew the media’s attention after an incident in which an inappropriate songbook belonging to student volunteers from the engineering society was discovered.

As a result, this year the administration stepped in to recruit, select and train the student leaders in the faculty of engineering.

“There were indications that there was a culture change needed within the engineering society at McMaster,” explained Sean Van Koughnett, associate vice-president of students and learning and dean of students at McMaster.

This was an attempt, he continued, to try and select “the right people” to be role models and try to educate them about the values that McMaster wants to promote.

“I think universities have a role to play in diligently and on a month-tomonth, year-to-year basis continually trying to reinforce the type of values and behaviour that we think represent the university well.”

But Van Koughnett said he does not believe the various incidents that have recently occurred at universities indicate an increase in inappropriate behaviour on the part of students.

“I can almost guarantee that this has gone on forever,” he said.

“I think one of the reasons, not to oversimplify, is because everyone now has a video camera in their

joshua awolade/graphics editor

pocket.”

Megan Campbell, a second-year psychology student and Foot Patrol volunteer, shared an unpleasant experience she had at this year’s On Campus Celebration at Laurier. She was on a shift in the Turret where Arkells were going to be playing.

Prior to the show, first-years in the room were chanting the typical OWeek cheers. Some males were lifted onto shoulders, which was greeted by cheering.

“The first time a girl got on someone’s shoulders all of a sudden the entire room full of first-years started chanting ‘tits out for the boys,’ ” she explained. “I was just completely appalled.”

She said she felt nauseated, especially because the student leaders had just done training on gendered violence and how to deal with it.

“How do you stop it when it’s an entire room full of first-year boys?” she said, continuing that she and the

icebreakers who were in the room didn’t know how to handle the situation.

“It had been so long since I’d seen that sort of thing at such a large scale. I was taken aback. I was like, are these the kind of people we have in first-year?”

Catherine Mulvihill, director of student experience at the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union, ran the session on language for the O-Week volunteers.

“I got good feedback from some of the volunteers afterwards who said it’s good to think about these things because we’re not always mindful of what we’re saying,” she said. “That both looking at words we know to be hurtful but then words that might have a negative impact even if we don’t know it.”

A new addition to training this year was a presentation given by the Diversity and Equity Office on gendered violence and rape culture.

“We had another conversation about intent versus impact and how we might say things that reinforce that idea of rape culture on campus without meaning to, whether that’s using terminology or slang or how we act,” Mulvihill explained.

This, Mulvihill said, was a direct result of the topic of gendered violence at Laurier being brought up in an open letter to administration that was written last year by students Cassandra Mensah and Ethan Jackson.

Mensah also spoke at the training session.

She continued that it’s important to realize that they aren’t conducting this training to try to protect the reputation of the university or prevent scandal.

“In the future it would be nice if we don’t have to do these sessions,” she continued. “But until then I think we want to keep doing that so that we have an environment where people feel safe to be themselves.”

STUDENT SERVICES

Demand for service at Writing Centre KAITLYN SEVERIN LEAD REPORTER

SHELBY BLACKLEY/CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR

One of the main concerns for students at the Writing Centre is grammar.

Over the last school year, Wilfrid Laurier University’s Writing Centre has seen a dramatic increase in the number of students using their services and the number of scheduled appointments.

According to an annual report written by Writing Centre manager Boba Samuels and writing consultant Jordana Garbati, there was a 16 per cent increase in students using the service and the percentage of appointments rose from 74 per cent to 84 per cent.

Samuels and Garbati explained that one of the main reasons students booked appointments was for grammar issues. Other reasons included thesis statement issues, confusion about assignment requirements, paragraph development, referencing, undergraduate theses and help with the general structure of academic papers.

Most of the appointments made are by first-year students anxious about assignments.

“Almost half of our students are first-year students and then after that it drops off,” Samuels explained.

“People get a little bit comfortable, they get a little familiar with it. Then it comes up again in fourth-year because of things like these highstake assignments like an undergrad thesis.”

According to the annual report,

there was a five per cent increase in the number of student consultations, and Garbati and Samuels concluded that there is “a need for increased resources, particularly for dedicated space and another full-time member.”

Reportedly, part of the reason why appointments rose over the last year was due to promotion surrounding the Writing Centre through speaking to classrooms.

“Because the professor has invited us in, that tells students that the professor supports our work and that’s really important for us,” Samuels said.

Word-of-mouth and social media have also helped promote the Writing Centre. Students following their Twitter page are able to see if appointments have opened up through their updates.

According to Samuels and Garbati, many Writing Centre events are happening this year to help enhance students’ writing abilities and promote awareness.

One event is the Go Go Grammar! workshop series, where students can learn in a small group about grammar and writing in five-week sessions.

The centre is offering two of these grammar sessions prior to fall reading week, which are already at capacity.

There are two more sessions running after reading week, for which waiting lists have been started. Fund-

ing from the Student Life Levy has given the centre more opportunities to do more sessions this winter.

The Long Night Against Procrastination event will be happening on Nov. 6 from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. in the 24-Hour Lounge.

Tutoring will be available all night for students who want a space to work on assignments and receive immediate feedback. Over 200 students attended last year’s event and the centre is expecting more this year.

According to Garbati, 15 universities across Canada are offering the same event, including Laurier’s Brantford campus.

The Writing Centre is also offering more workshops where tutors can help with advanced documents that students have no familiarity with.

“For graduate students we offer fall scholarship proposal writing workshops to help them with their applications, so we’re doing that the week of Oct. 6,” said Garbati.

This year, the Writing Centre is focusing on the need to develop programming for English language learners and are currently conducting research on how to address needs of students.

Samuels and Garbati reflected on how their tutors are very committed to both the centre and the events they’ve planned for students.

“They’re very excited about what they do and I think that’s what drives us to keep going,” said Garbati.

6 • CAMPUS NEWS STUDENTS’ UNION

Director resigns

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 ORIENTATION WEEK

SHELBY BLACKLEY CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR

The Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union board of directors has decreased to 14 directors after the resignation of Yoad Avitzur.

At the August 23 board meeting it was announced that Avitzur had formally resigned from the board. Matt McLean, chair and chief governing officer of the board, said Avitzur approached him early in the summer with the intent of resigning.

After he took some time to think over his decision, he submitted a formal letter to the board, outlining his reasons for resigning.

“He ended up making the decision to resign from the board because of other commitments and concerns about his academics and reasonable things one would consider,” McLean said.

In the letter, Avitzur explained he was given a teaching assistant position and felt his other commitments coupled with “the importance of doing well” in his final year would prevent him from “being a good director.”

According to McLean, the constitution says the board has the choice to determine whether they need to fill the empty seat. After the board meeting where the directors discussed the positives and negatives of filling the empty position, they came to a consensus to continue the year with 14 directors.

“In a way, it’s almost better to have 14 engaged directors than 14 engaged and one that has other commitments,” McLean explained.

With the change, quorum for board meetings will change from 10 directors to nine, which McLean said will make it easier for the directors to meet and make decisions as a group.

He also noted that with the board moving to 12 directors next year from 15, this is a good opportunity for transition.

“We’re going from 15 to 12 for next year and we said as a group there’s a positive with this decision to move to 14 and see how it works out.”

McLean said he’s positive the board can fulfill their function and service with 14 directors and it’s “not necessary to fill the seat.”

If the board did decide to fill the empty seat, the Union would have had to call a special general meeting, for which the costs would be “astronomical” according to McLean.

“In the past, there have been boards that have had some directors more engaged than others and we have a great group of 14 directors.”

KHA VO/LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER

Incoming first-year students cheer during cheer off at Laurier’s Orientation Week in Waterloo. This was the first year with classes starting during O-Week.

O-Week changes in review KAITLYN SEVERIN LEAD REPORTER

Incoming first-year students were the first to experience a new structure to Orientation Week at Wilfrid Laurier University. Instead of having a full week of frosh activities, students were required to attend class on the Thursday and Friday, which ran simultaneously to passive O-Week programming.

Sam Lambert, president and CEO of the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union, said he believed the week went according to plan and succeeded in getting students engaged in events.

“Our goals are to get as many students as engaged as possible and make sure that they’re coming out to events and feeling as comfortable as possible on campus, and entering their first classes with an idea of what they’re doing and how they’re going to do it,” he said.

According to Lambert, feedback from professors and faculty have all been very positive, and having classes within O-Week helped students prepare for their first semester of university. However, some first-year students felt overwhelmed by the academic priority that was included in their first week.

“I felt like O-Week was a little bit more academic-based, and me and my roommates felt like we weren’t settled in or in the right state of mind to be going to classes yet,” said Lyndsey Allingham, a first-year business student at Laurier.

“Our goals are to get as many students as engaged as possible ...”

-Sam Lambert, president and CEO of the Students’ Union

According to Lambert, having the Get Involved Fair placed on the first day of classes as passive programming made it easier for first-years to track down O-Week volunteers to ask them questions about campus.

But there were small issues with starting classes during the week of OWeek, one being that more staff were on campus so parking was more difficult for the Get Involved Fair.

“In the past, we’ve had no trouble getting room bookings because there are no classes going on,” Lambert explained. “So that was a little bit difficult with classes starting on Thursday.”

Even with the small troubles, Lambert said the schedule didn’t change much because of the passive programming, and students could come and go to events as they pleased.

Overall, except for a switch in the mindset for people involved, Lambert said it was nothing the Union couldn’t handle.

“I think that students were engaged and they had a lot of opportu-

nities, socially and academically, to kind of figure out where they want to be on this campus. I’d say anything that they didn’t think they’d got, please let us know because we’re always looking to improve,” he said.

Laurier’s Graduate Students’ Association also had their O-Week last week. Graduate students beginning their studies at Laurier were able to participate in professional development opportunities, networking experiences from other students and exploring the resources on campus.

Robert Bruce, president and CEO of the GSA, said their O-Week is quite different from the first-year experience.

“There’s an overlap between the orientation and resources and getting to know campus, but the heavier focus is placed on professional development,” he said, Bruce explained their association is very diverse with a wide range of students, such as professional and PhD students, research-based students in one- or two-year programs and students in course-based programs.

“We have to orientate them all accordingly to their programs and to their needs.”

During their O-Week, the Graduate and Professional Studies Symposium allowed students to choose orientation pathways according to their needs. All the programming is based upon community, academics, resources and professionalization, and students can pick what programming they can get the most out of.

According to Bruce, the GSA tries to have a social side that ties similarly into first-year to get students to network.

“You’re coming here for the first time on campus; you’re getting situated in an experience you’ve never been situated in before, you’re meeting tons of new people, and for those who are commuting in first-year, that’s probably a little more similar to our situation because our students are not actually here on campus.

They either live outside or are commuting from Toronto, Guelph or wherever it is.”

The GSA also held a patio party on the Thursday of O-Week in the Quad, where over 200 Laurier and University of Waterloo students attended events. Bruce stressed that having both universities present gave students the opportunity to network more broadly than the Laurier scope.

“The networking is so, so important and it just offers further opportunity for discussions about research from those who are returning and going to GPSS. Which is another difference as well, instead of everyone just being a first-year, we have those who are third-year PhDs who attend GPSS or second-year MAs coming back.”

With the first trial of the new undergraduate O-Week schedule completed, it will be up to coming years to decide how things can be further developed to encompass the earlier start in classes.

“Overall, I’m extremely happy with how things went,” said Lambert.

Campus news • 7

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 physical resources

Accessibility a ‘growing process’ ‘Little by little’ changes being made to improve physical accessibility on both Laurier campuses SHELBY BLACKLEY CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR

Physical accessibility on Wilfrid Laurier University’s Waterloo campus isn’t perfect, but according to Gary Nower, it’s a constant growing process.

Nower, Laurier’s assistant vicepresident of physical resources, stressed that with Waterloo’s campus being over 100 years old, there are areas the university is consistently working on to make it more accessible.

“I think the university has taken a lot of steps in the last four, five, six years to improve accessibility and there are some areas that because of the construction of the building and the different [levels] ... it wasn’t constructed with universal standards in mind,” he explained.

Notably, the walkway between the Arts building and the Peters building near the Laurier International office only has stairs and no accessible path. This is one of Nower’s main focuses.

Physical resources, alongside the Diversity and Equity Office and the Accessible Learning Centre, are working together to ensure all the accessible issues throughout campus are addressed and fixed as efficiently as possible.

Lynn Kane, employment equity and Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act officer, explained that the relationship allows all parties to see campus through multiple lenses and come to the conclusion on the best methods and practices to make Laurier more accessible.

“Anything we do, we add accessibility to it.”

-Gary Nower, assistant vice-president of physical resources

JODY WAARDENBURG/staff photographer

Small steps have been taken over the past few years to make Wilfrid Laurier a more physically accessible campus.

“Faculty, staff and some students would come to me with accessibility concerns. Students, especially, would go to the Accessible Learning Centre with concerns and physical resources see it through a [new perspective] as well and [focus on] all of the updates,” she said.

“Having those relationships means that it doesn’t get left on one person’s table; it’s a shared account-

ability for it.”

Projects that have come to the attention of Nower and Kane include new building projects such as the Library, the Little House redesign, the Global Innovation Exchange building, the Wellness Centre as well as the YMCA building in Brantford.

They’ve also heard concerns about certain doors not having automatic door openers and the need for a

power-operated door in the Graduate Students’ Association office.

Both of those issues have since been fixed.

Nower noted the Library redesign, which was approximately a $900,000 project, had accessibility in mind.

The ramp in the front was redone because the ramp beforehand was reportedly “inadequate.”

Physical resources has also put in

ramps, added elevators and made common spaces such as the Quad more accessible.

“There are not always big alterations, so we haven’t done a ‘let’s fix all of the problems at once,’ but little by little, changes are being made,” Kane said.

With universal standards in place, every renovation physical resources puts money into will focus on making the university more accessible for all students.

Because of how new Laurier’s Brantford campus is, the city already has strict guidelines around accessibility.

“Anything we do, we add accessibility into it,” Nower said.

“But that’s not to say that it’s perfect by any extent.”

Although Kane and Nower emphasized their efforts to make Laurier a more accessible campus, Kane stressed that it’s hard to assume the challenges.

“I don’t live it on a daily basis, trying to get around accessibility barriers,” she said.

“As an able person, I don’t see all of the challenges.”

8 • Local news

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

from cover

UW student struck by lightning A first-year student was killed Friday while walking on campus during a severe thunderstorm connor ward lead reporter

A female student at the University of Waterloo was struck and killed by lightning last Friday morning while walking on campus. The incident, which happened at approximately 9 a.m., occurred on a path leading to the Village 1 student residence.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service has revealed that the female was a first-year nanotechnology engineering student from Markham and had not yet started classes, which were set to begin on Sept.8.

“It was Orientation Week, so we don’t know where she was coming from or going to, although it does appear she was heading back towards the residences,” said Nick Manning, director of media relations at the University of Waterloo.

“We’ll know more about this as the investigation goes on.”

Students apparently found the woman unconscious on the Village 1 pathway. They, with consultation of a residence don, called 911 to report the incident. The woman was taken to the hospital and died shortly before 10 a.m.

The family, who were notified on Friday, has asked UW and WRPS to not release the name of the student.

“Members of the university have also completely cooperated fully with the legal authority for this investigation. We’ve also made sure on Friday that we took steps to remind students the dangers of being out in inclement weather,” said Manning.

The chance of being killed by lightning is very low in Canada, with the national average floating near nine or 10 per year. Many students met this incident, rare in occurrence, with disbelief.

“At first I thought it was a hoax,” said Wilfrid Low, a first-year student at UW. “But then there were firemen and police on the campus and I got really

“At first I thought it was a hoax ... but then there were firemen and police on campus and I got really scared.”

-Wilfrid Low, first-year UW student

scared.”

The incident also made many aware of the dangers surrounding severe thunderstorms, causing students all around the region to stay off the streets and seek shelter indoors.

HEATHER DAVIDSON/PHOTO EDITOR

“For some people, I think it made them more uncomfortable about being at school. Some stayed in their dorms the whole day that day,” said Low. Although rain had been present the evening before, Environment Canada weather data showed no reason to be alarmed on Sept. 5. The data, now accessible as past weather, shows good visibility and clear skies up until 8 a.m., when the thunderstorm first occurred.

“It’s worth bearing in mind that on Friday morning Environment Canada had not issued any watches or warnings about severe weather or thunderstorms,” said Manning.

Environment Canada’s website states that if you are caught outside during a severe thunderstorm, seek shelter in low-lying areas, avoid large bodies of water and steer clear of objects that might conduct electricity.

Environment Canada also advises that once a safe place is located, stay in that location for at least 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder.

If you do happen to come across someone who has been struck by lightning, they will not carry an electrical charge, so it is okay to handle them. Promptly call first responders and administer cardio pulmonary resuscitation if the victim is not breathing.

Important to mention is that both UW and Wilfrid Laurier University have a weather notification system, which is used to communicate with students, faculty and employees of a decision to close campus or cancel classes.

For now, UW is continually cooperating with police and waiting to take further action until the legal investigation is fully complete.

“We need to wait until we’ve received a full accident report before we draw any conclusions about what we should be doing and whether we take any specific actions to prevent this accident from happening again,” said Manning.

security

Local cabs to be equipped with cameras daina goldfinger lead reporter

will huang/photo editor

Following a series of sexual assault charges involving cab drivers, taxicab companies in Waterloo are making the effort to install surveillance cameras within their vehicles.

According to Peter Neufeld, president of Waterloo Region Taxi and the Waterloo Region Taxi Association, there have been six sexual assault cases in the last 20 months.

Only one case took place with Waterloo Taxi and the offender was charged a fine for sexual assault.

“Cameras have always been in place in some of these taxis prior to all of the reports of sexual assaults that have taken place,” said Angelo Apfelbaum, the manager of licensing and enforcement at the Region of Waterloo.

Apfelbaum explained that through the taxi association, there has been a decision to implement cameras in all of the taxicabs voluntarily, rather than just in a select few.

“I have spoken to Waterloo Regional Police [Service] and they recommend that it is best that it is proprietary, owned by Waterloo Taxi just to expedite the process of taking footage,” explained Neufeld.

Sometimes there are problems gaining access to privately owned cameras, as a warrant is typically required to view the footage. Furthermore, it also allows the taxi operator the ability to erase the footage or to recycle the recorded tape.

“It really is a safety issue now,” said Neufeld. “It has come to the forefront, and it is time.”

In order to notify prospective passengers that they will be filmed while in the vehicle, a sticker is required to be placed on the taxi.

The sticker will indicate that that particular taxicab is equipped with a camera.

According to Apfelbaum, there are over 360 cabs in the region, and many of them are still not equipped with a closed-circuit television.

Neufeld said there are still 91 vehicles to equip, and these cabs should all implement surveillance cameras by late December.

In addition to helping eliminate sexual assault in taxicabs, the implementation of surveillance cameras is also predicted to prevent robbery of taxicab operators, mitigate other criminal offenses, act as a deterrent to an illegal act that could take place and provide evidence for car accidents.

“It is going to eliminate any of the issues we have been running into the last while,” explained Neufeld.

By having consistent footage of cab rides, Neufeld will be able to monitor the behaviour that takes place in all taxis.

He will therefore be able to prevent any form of unjust behaviour from occurring.

Neufeld also said that a meeting will be taking place on Sept. 25 with a representative from WRPS in order to educate taxi operators on acceptable interactions with passengers, as well as what constitutes sexual harassment.

Neufeld assured passengers that Waterloo Taxi and the taxi association are doing everything they can in order to reassure the public that they are safe getting into one of their taxis.

According to Apfelbaum however, the municipality still has a long way to go in officially labeling the idea a by-law.

“We have to research municipality requirements and how it has worked for everyone else,” he explained.

Apfelbaum continued to reassure customers that the taxi industry in the region is safe. He encouraged anybody who has a problem involving crime to speak to WRPS.

LOCAL NEWS • 9

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 BUSINESS

WELLNESS

Mental health service launches MARISSA EVANS SENIOR NEWS EDITOR

HEATHER DAVIDSON/FILE PHOTO

Revitalizing St. Jacobs A year has passed since a fire devastated the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, but the businesses are bouncing back DAINA GOLDFINGER LEAD REPORTER

Ever since a fire destroyed the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market on Sept. 2, 2013 there have been countless efforts to revitalize the market.

The first step taken to ease the process was the construction of a temporary building that opened on Dec. 14, 2013.

This temporary building took the form of a tent that was bright and airy for customers.

According to Marcus Shantz, president of Mercedes Corp., the company that owns St. Jacobs market building, “the vendors for the most part are very happy with the season they have had so far.”

The winter season was very difficult for businesses because of the harsh weather conditions, however spring and summer has allowed many of the vendors to flourish.

For the most part, the vendors have recuperated to their previous financial state prior to the fire.

The reconstruction of the market has been planned to make it similar to the previous one.

“It is kind of intended to pay tribute to some of the agricultural architecture that has been in Waterloo Region for a long time. It looks like a big barn,” explained Shantz.

Currently, the foundation is in the ground in preparation for the new building to be constructed, with the

HEATHER DAVIDSON/FILE PHOTO

framing to be built within the next month or so.

According to Shantz, most of this space is allotted to current vendors of the market, however some of these vendors have reportedly been expanding in terms of product quantity and operational services.

This year there were two new winery vendors that sold products at the market, which is a direct result of the province’s change in legislation that allows for wine sale at farmers’ markets.

According to Shantz, the change is a pilot program, and if the government approves of this program the

wineries may be a permanent addition to the market.

Shantz is still unaware of the cause of the fire. The only knowledge he has is that the fire began in the left corner of the building.

He confirmed that customers of the market can expect the new building to open in May 2015, however he is hoping the winter weather conditions will be better this year to speed up the construction process.

“The thing that makes the market go is this community, the people that support it. We always knew that, but we really experienced that in a new way this past year,” Shantz said.

Locals who may have been previously lost in the system of trying to get help for mental health issues, addiction or crises have a new resource at their service.

Here 24/7 is now the central service residents of Waterloo Region, Wellington County and Dufferin County can access in order to connect with services in the area.

Andy Best, communications specialist for the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo-Wellington-Dufferin, explained that the goal of the service is to make it “as easy as possible for people to reach out and access the services that they need.”

“Whether or not they know what they need — that actually doesn’t matter,” he continued. “Their only job is to reach out to us.”

The service launched on April 1 and is the first of its kind in Ontario and possibly the country, according to Best.

CMHA Waterloo-WellingtonDufferin is the primary partner, but the service is linked with 11 other services in addiction, mental health and crisis sectors in the area.

“It took a year and half to design and build this new service. The reason why it came about was because there was a recognition that it was very challenging for people to access the right programs.”

Here 24/7 has one set of waiting lists for all programs, for example, whereas in the past people who needed help could have been on several waiting lists that were never coordinated.

According to Best, there are currently 30 service coordinators on staff.

While people can call in and use the service simply as a directory to find out what services are available to them, Best said it is also much more than that.

“They actually serve as the individual guide — they stick with them throughout their journey, they book their appointments for them, they follow up and make sure they’re getting where they need to go,” he said, referring to the ways in which service coordinators assist patrons.

The vast majority of their admissions are by phone, but there is also availability for people to visit their locations in Guelph, Cambridge, Kitchener and Fergus. They are working to bring a fifth location to Waterloo.

Best said that when the service

“Whether or not they know what they need — that actually doesn’t matter.”

-Andy Best, communications specialist for CMHA

was first launched, they were overwhelmed with demand. Leading up to their launch they added up the interactions their service partners were having per day.

“We were expecting about 80 calls per day when we launched,” he said.

“We have consistently, since April, received around 400 calls a day.”

Best says this is proof that there was a demand in the communities.

People aged 26 to 35 use the service the most, with people over the age of 66 using it the least. In addition, where gender is known, females use the service more than males.

Recently, they received $950,000 in funding from the Local Health Integration Network WaterlooWellington, which they will receive each year.

This year they are putting it toward hiring 10 more staff.

Best said the staff they hire are “highly trained individuals” because they need to be able to handle a range of calls.

10 per cent of admissions they receive are high risk of harm, very high risk or involve current actions that could cause endangerment.

17 per cent of admissions are moderate risk. 7 3 per cent are low risk or people asking for referrals or asking for advice or information.

In higher risk situations, they have a mobile crisis team who visit individuals to diffuse dangerous situations.

As they continue to try to get on top of the demand in the area, Best said they want to continue to bring awareness to the issues of mental health, addiction and crisis that are present in the communities.

“We want to help reduce the stigma around reaching out for support around these kinds of issues,” he continued.

“We want to continue increasing awareness of Here 24/7 as the one place to call to access mental health, addictions and crisis services in our region.”

10 • LOCAL NEWS FROM COVER

Move in set back

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 EVENTS

- cover The construction delay of the apartment raises attention to the larger issue of residential developers pushing past expected dates of completion.

In Waterloo, and in university-clad cities across Canada, apartments not being completed apartments not being completed upon the start of a September lease can often be an issue. This reality makes it necessary for tenants to carefully read over their lease agreements.

“Because each contract may be different in the provisions, you need to check what it says, or doesn’t say, regarding date of completion. What rights does the other party to the contract have should the completion dates not be met?” said Eric Davis, a practicing lawyer in KitchenerWaterloo, specifying in municipal planning.

Provisions in lease agreements can often confuse tenants, especially students. It is important to remember that lease agreements, like contracts, can be legally binding and represent an understanding between the developer and leaseholder.

“I think people should read their lease and if they do not understand any provisions, should seek the requisite legal advice,” said Davis.

To students who are confused by the provisions in their lease agreement, or simply feel that a review of the lease by an expert would benefit them, can turn to Wilfrid Laurier University’s on campus resources.

The Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union has a Student Rights Advisory Committee that is specifically available to aid students in landlord-tenant disputes or concerns. The committee cannot offer professional legal advice, but instead can offer guidance for what students can do to enforce their rights as tenants.

If you are looking to back out of a lease agreement, Davis offered some key advice as to going about that legal action.

“In most leases, it contains termination provisions of some sort, so if you’re looking to back out of a lease, it would be contained within that particular agreement.”

WILL HUANG/PHOTO EDITOR

Locals released butterflies at a ceremony to remember and reflect on departed loved ones. The ceremony was followed by the Walk to Remember.

Loved ones memorialized Locals gathered for the 17th annual Butterfly Release and Walk to Remember AMY SMITH STAFF WRITER

This past Sunday, locals had a chance to memorialize their lost loved ones by releasing a butterfly in their honour.

Bereaved Families of Ontario Midwestern Region held its 17th annual Butterfly Release and Walk to Remember, where they sold butterflies to be released during a ceremony..

“It just gives people a chance to remember. A lot of the time when you’re grieving you’re afraid people are going to forget and that if you grieve yourself you’re going to forget, and that’s not really the way it goes,” said outreach organizer, Laura Deyell. “It’s about finding a way to remember your loved one and still continue living.”

The day involved face painting and refreshments, followed by the release of butterflies and a walk through the Williamsburg Cemetery in Kitchener.

The ceremony also offered par-

ticipants an opportunity to post a picture of who they lost as a message on a memory wall.“ We did not really expect this turnout. We had 195 butterflies ordered so we had an idea,” Deyell said. “But I think this is the biggest turnout we’ve had so far, so it’s very exciting to see.”

BFO is a non-profit organization that is made up of bereaved volunteers who aspire to help others through the grieving process. They offer free of charge one-on-one meetings, support groups and annual events such as the Butterfly Walk. The funds raised at the walk went towards BFO in order to help them continue offering support free of charge.

Deyell decided to begin volunteering with the organization in 2008 after the death of her brother. She wanted to support others who were enduring similar loss.

“It’s about a chance to remember and to have a moment to connect with people grieving as well so they

know that they are not alone,” she said.

Local resident Tanya Seiling was present at the event and participated in the release and walk.

“I’ve never really done anything like this before,” she said. “So it’s actually really beautiful and great to be here surrounded by other people with smiling faces and knowing you can get through it.”

“I think it’s just important to come together with people who have gone through all our situations differently yet become united to remember our loved ones.”

Although many of the participants have been attending for years, there were several people there for the first time.

“I recently lost my grandmother and she worked for the city. So we got the email to come here so we decided to come out in memory of her,” said first-time participant, Melissa Brito.

“I just think whenever you visit

“It’s about looking back after you release the butterfly and not thinking about the sad moments, but thinking about the freedom.”

-Tanya Seiling, local resident

anybody it makes you feel connected and gives you a moment to remind the person that you’re thinking of them, so this really brought a moment of peace.”

According to Deyell, they wanted to remind their participants they do not need to forget their loved ones in order to be happy.

Seiling added, “It’s about looking back after you release the butterfly and not thinking about the sad moments, but thinking about the freedom.”

RESEARCH

Study measures couples’ ability to gauge sexual satisfaction KATE TURNER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

If you think your partner can’t tell that you’re faking it in bed — think again. Researchers at the University of Waterloo found that men and women are better at reading their partner’s sexual satisfaction than you might think.

Erin Fallis, a PhD candidate at UW, conducted a study on 84 heterosexual couples from the Kitchener-Waterloo area and found that men and women both did fairly well at gauging their partner’s sexual satisfaction.

The couples were in long-term relationships — either married or living together for two years as if married — and were questioned on their own satisfaction in addition to their perception of their partner’s satisfaction.

Fallis also had the couples complete an emotional recognition task, where they looked at images of people’s eyes and had to assess

which emotion they were showing.

“There were two main research questions we were interested in. The first one was how well do people in long-term relationships read each other’s sexual satisfaction,” Fallis said.

“The other questions we were interested in was understanding what sorts of characteristics or factors would contribute to having more accurate perceptions of your partner’s sexual satisfaction.”

According to Fallis, one factor that affected perceptions of sexual satisfaction was a couple’s ability to communicate about sexual issues.

“We found that when sexual communication is better — so people feel more comfortable and able to discuss sexual topics or people feel they can resolve problems around sexual issues — then sexual communication was better, or [they were] better able to gauge their partner’s sexual satisfaction,” she continued.

Fallis explained that the idea for her study came from research she

found from the United States. In the study, the percentage of men who reported always achieving orgasm was fairly close to the percentage of women who estimated their partners were always achieving orgasm. Basically, the women knew their partners weren’t faking it.

However, she said there was a “disconnect” when it came to women. A smaller number of women reported always achieving orgasm compared to what their male partners estimated.

“So that really created this question: how accurately do people perceive their partner’s sexual satisfaction?” Fallis said.

“In my study I looked at a definition of sexual satisfaction, where it is broader than looking specifically at orgasm frequency or consistency.”

Of the sample she studied, she said, “In general they had fairly accurate and unbiased perceptions of their partner’s sexual satisfaction.”

Essentially, in the case of the sample there was no need to fake it

in bed because their partner could tell if they were satisfied or not.

However, the study does not end here.

“I think in terms of future research, where we’re headed next is looking at where did the impact of having more or less accurate perceptions of your partner’s sexual satisfaction on sexual satisfaction over time,” Fallis explained.

“So we would hypothesize that having a more accurate perception of your partner’s sexual satisfaction is probably going to contribute to both you and your partner being more sexually satisfied in the future.”

Fallis concluded with advice for couples to improve their own sexual satisfaction through improving communication pertaining to sexual issues.

“Though it can be difficult to discuss sexual topics within a relationship, it’s beneficial for couples to do that. So I would encourage couples to try to work towards discussing the sexual topics.”

Local news • 11

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 profile

New chief for WRPS Bryan Larkin has returned to serve as chief of police for the Waterloo Regional Police Service connor ward lead reporter

Former chief of the Guelph Police Service, Bryan Larkin, has officially taken his post as Waterloo Regional Police Service’s new chief.

Larkin started his policing career in the Region of Waterloo as an officer in 1991 and served the region until 2011. He left in 2011 to pursue the position of deputy chief of police in Guelph, which he held for a year before becoming chief.

“This is where I started my career, assigned to division one patrol, which at the time was responsible for policing in the Kitchener area and the City of Kitchener downtown,” said Larkin.

Larkin, like many young people interested in policing, was drawn to the action and service aspects of being a community officer.

“I was looking to do something that made a difference,” he said. “I didn’t find myself to be someone who would do the same thing every day or be inside, and policing is action oriented.”

Larkin also had mentors who were police officers and he saw the duty they served as making a difference in the community.

“At the end of the day, they were

“My main goal is to listen, and listen to our membership and community as to what our priorities are.”

-Bryan Larkin, WRPS police chief

preserving the right for all. I just thought it was a great opportunity for me and I never looked back. It’s something I’ve immensely enjoyed,” said Larkin.

When the chief of police position became available at WRPS earlier this year Larkin decided to express an interest in coming back to the region, after having already experienced helming a police force.

“The position became open and they were seeking applications of interest, and I expressed my interest and decided to give this an opportunity to see whether or not it was feasible to become chief,” said Larkin.

With almost two weeks into the position, Chief Larkin has been busy at work, meeting both with other police leaders and members of the community. The first week has been

will huang/photo editor

Bryan Larkin has taken his post as chief, after leaving the Guelph Police Service and returning to Waterloo.

fast-paced with lots of action.

“It’s a little surreal. I’m still wondering whether this is a dream or real,” He said. “I think with anything when you come into a new organization you have to figure out what you’re doing and get going.”

He expressed a desire to approach

his new position with an open mind, with his main goals being to reconnect with the membership of WRPS, and understand what the priorities, challenges and opportunities of the police force are. Once the operational strategy is formulated, he will start planning the logistics of the

upcoming year.

“This is an organization and community I’m very familiar with,” said Larkin.

“My main goal is to really listen, and listen to our membership and community as to what our priorities are.”

12 •

Arts & Life

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 Arts & Life Editor Bryan Stephens

Music

Behind the scenes at K-W Symphony

Jody waardenberg/Staff Photographer

In advance of their season opener, the K-W Symphony and special guests Times for Three allowed students and young professionals to attend the dress rehearsal ahead of the performance.

Bryan Stephens Arts & Life editor

On Sept. 4 the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony offered a special opportunity ahead of its season opener.

Students and young professionals had the opportunity to see a working rehearsal of the orchestra with the special season opener guests, Times for Three, at Centre in the Square.

“We probably had one of the most engaging acts in the world right now, Times by Three,” said Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, the assistant conductor of the K-W Symphony.

“They mash up classical music with [several other genres].”

“It’s pretty exciting stuff.”

The rehearsal was free to attend and allowed for the audience to see behind-the-scenes of how the performance was organized.

“Planning takes much more than anybody would know,” said Angela Cox-Daly, first violin for the symphony. “There is the booking of the hall, organize the conductors and musicians. All of the different things we have to adhere to in order to perform.”

“A lot of detailed planning goes into these events. Things like how many chairs to put on stage, what kind of microphones and headphones the performers should be using,” said Bartholomew-Poyser.

“It’s a matter of making sure that

everything is taken care of so when [the performers] come out in front of an audience, they can give 100 per cent.”

Bartholomew-Poyser emphasized that the rehearsal had many different goals.

“The musical goal is for people to come out and have an experience that leaves them different. But also we want people to come and enjoy themselves, hear beautiful music, and be swept away from it.”

On opening this up for students, Bartholomew-Poyser believes events like this shatter stereotypical ideas about what classical music is.

“It’s a myth that classical audiences are getting older over time.

The average age of a classical audience has been 55 years old for the past 40 years. But there are a ton of young people that come out to these concerts and there are a ton of young people in the orchestra.”

Cox-Daly sees the importance for students in the inspiration it can create.

“Listening to the music that often students don’t have an opportunity to go see, it is so different from the radio or a great sound system.”

“When you see all of these people working together and see their passion and excitement, I would hope it would make people more alive and excited.”

This rehearsal follows along the

lines of the programming that the K-W Symphony has offered for students.

“We are always doing things for students. The best way for students to get involved is to look at the website periodically. We are always doing events that are interdisciplinary, and we do concerts like that here.”

Overall, Bartholomew-Poyser believes that when it comes to programming like this, there is no better experience elsewhere in the region.

“If you want to hear some of the best musicians in the world, playing with one of the best musical directors around, in one of the best concert halls in Canada, this is the place to be. “

Local Art

Seeing the city from above Scott Glaysher Staff WRiter

Kitchener-Waterloo’s regional chapter of the global non-profit grassroots organization Urban Sketchers is holding their first ever exhibition.

Located in Kitchener City Hall’s Berlin Tower Gallery, KW Urban Sketchers have displayed 16 beautifully crafted sketches of downtown Kitchener.

The sketches were all completed May 3 while the artists were sitting atop Kitchener City Hall, and were all drawn in panoramic view showing King Street, Frederick Street, the tops of some of Wilfrid Laurier University’s tallest buildings and everything in between.

The fascinating thing about this exhibit is that it features 16 different interpretations of the same view.

For example, Tracy Bithell’s ‘As The Crow Flies’ features a very structured and detail oriented look at King Street West all the way down to what appears to be the Cambridge horizon.

It is so detailed that you can almost make out the faces of the people in the TD Canada Trust Centre.

Joan Ang’s ‘Kitchener in Vivid Colour’ is a much more non concrete view of the corner between Ontario

Street and King Street. It features bright colours and simple shapes, but gives off a noticeable sense of familiarity.

The KW Urban Sketchers insist on having their drawings tell the story of K-W’s surroundings, the places we live and where we travel.

With this exhibit, they accomplish just that.

Don’t expect to see an elaborate setup with grandiose portraits, but come prepared to see a collection of pieces that make you feel right at home. When looking at the lush colours schemes in Steph Lee’s ‘King & Gaukel,’ the familiarity of walking by that intersection and seeing those same rustic colours is unparalleled.

Even the menacing shadows featured in Heather Franklin’s ‘Elements of King Street’ will remind people of exactly how it feels to walk down King Street when the sun is hidden behind the towering buildings.

It is truly the diversity in the sketches paired with each artist’s unique spin that makes it a wellrounded exhibit.

KW Urban Sketchers not only allows local artists to display their work, but also shows the community how important even the simplest art can be.

This particular exhibit runs all throughout September and is free to go and see. I would highly recommend at least checking it out for a quick second just to appreciate the artistic representations of the streets that we walk each and every day.

Will Huang/Photo Editor

Hanging around the walls of the exhibit, framed sketches from the various artists adore all around the showcase.

arts & life • 13

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 music

Arkells get nostalgic at Laurier Frontman Max Kerman reflects on his time as a McMaster student and his close ties to Waterloo Kate Turner Editor-in-chief

Max Kerman is no stranger to Wilfrid Laurier University. Over the past three years the Arkells frontman visited Waterloo to see his girlfriend, who recently graduated from Laurier.

So when the Hamilton band returned to campus on Sept. 2 to play the Turret during Orientation Week, Kerman found himself reflecting on those times and his own experience when he was a student at McMaster University.

“I am particularly sentimental about it because I met Nick [Dika] and Mike [DeAngelis] at McMaster, and I remember how excited I was to see bands like Sam Roberts or Bedouin Soundclash come to McMaster and play at our frosh week,” he said.

“Those concerts were always really special to me, so the fact that we get to do that for somebody else, I think that’s a real privilege.”

Those that fought their way through the massive line to the Turret reflected Kerman’s excitement, chanting “Arkells” over and over until the band walked on stage. As the opening chords of “Fake Money” filled the room, the floor shook from the hundreds of first-years jumping and dancing.

The audience sang along with familiar hits as the band followed with “Come to Light” off their newest album High Noon, and “Ballad of Hugo Chavez” from their first record, Jackson Square.

Kerman noted the sense of excitement the band feels from students when they play university shows, which they still play often despite their growing fame.

“We really enjoy it. I think a lot of our fans anyway are in university or have just finished university or are going into university … our songs talk about being a young person and relationships and we’re not really that far removed from where the kids at Laurier would be at right now,” he said.

“I think there’s a lot of relatable lyrics and things like that. We make music to dance to and to party to … I think we fit in the landscape for college students in a really nice way.”

The band played several frosh week shows last week, including Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec the night before they were at Laurier.

“They’re allowed to drink there because the Quebec drinking age is a little different — so everyone was feeling pretty good. At the end of the set I was just like, ‘Hey how does your school song go?’ and then like on a dime they all started chanting the school song and it lasted about a minute and a half,” Kerman laughed.

However, that energy seemed to be lacking from Laurier students at the show, but the band more than made up for it with their stage presence. During “Oh the Boss is Coming,” Kerman shouted to the crowd, “We played at Bishop’s University last night and they were way fucking louder than you!”

Their fast-paced energy slowed down for “11:11,” which Kerman revealed was written about his girlfriend Lauren.

“This song is a love song about a recent graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University,” he shared with the crowd.

Kerman said over the past three years he would visit his girlfriend in Waterloo a few times a month and frequented spots like Death Valley’s Little Brother, Starlight Social Club, Jane Bond and of course Phil’s.

When asked what his experience was like dating a university student while touring around with the band, Kerman said, “It keeps me young, you know.”

“I get the scoop on what the kids are listening to, which was really helpful because for some of the college shows we like to throw in an odd cover and I’d be like, ‘Hey Lauren, what’s hot right now?’ “ And during their show they did just that. In the middle of “Dirty Blonde” they busted out a verse of Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off,” asking for help from the crowd.

“I think I have a real youthful spirit and I’m not an old crotchety bastard.

I’m not that type — at least yet,” Kerman laughed.

He said through his girlfriend he met a lot of “smart, young, interesting people” from Laurier and encouraged students to put themselves out there while in university.

“There’s no bubble that exists right now,” he said. “Getting to meet people is really nice and I think there’s so many interesting, smart people that you can befriend and will make your life better. So go out there with an open mind and just try to connect with people.”

Heather Davidson/ Photo Editor

Max Kerman (top) sings his heart out to a sold out crowd at the Turret; a fan (bottom), rocks out to the band.

volunteering

Reflecting on the TIFF experience Lena Yang Creative Director

On Sept. 4, Toronto was thrust into the spotlight as the Toronto International Film Festival kicked off to a crowded street of international attendees who were in town for 10 days of cinematic wonder and red carpet galore. New to the festival this year is Festival Street, in which five blocks of King Street West have been closed off to traffic so festival goers are free to meander around the area which featured a life-size game of chess, a glitzy piano, street performers, live musicians and additional restaurant patios to accommodate for the influx of patrons.

This year, I had the pleasure of

volunteering at the opening gala the night before the festival. Instead of the traffic-stopping shirts, we were given the chance to deck out in our finest cocktail attire and assist esteemed TIFF members and celebrities. When things winded down near the end of the night, we were given a tour of the sixth floor of the TIFF Bell Lightbox, which had been transformed into a lavishly decorated party floor complete with caterers, live music and a balcony lounge overlooking the city.

In all of the times I have volunteered at TIFF, I had completed shifts at some of the busiest venues: Scotiabank with a whopping 14 cinemas catering to both public and press and industry screenings; Roy Thompson Hall, a theatre that holds nearly 2,000 for red carpet premieres; and the TIFF Bell Lightbox, which is situated in the heart of Festival Street.

Volunteer opportunities at TIFF are infinitely diverse with multiple

positions available at each venue and an assortment of departmental opportunities from marketing to communications to ticketing services.

Additionally, the relatively new position of the ACE volunteer had been created for those who would like to experience opportunities outside their assigned venues and departments.

Even though I had spent the majority of my time as a theatre volunteer, where my main responsibilities were to assist with crowds and answer questions, my shifts were very enjoyable, as it was the perfect opportunity to meet volunteers and patrons alike who shared a common passion for film.

There were early mornings, late nights and extended exposure to sweltering sun rays, but volunteering granted a better understanding of the festival and it introduced opportunities that I cherished and will continue to cherish.

Lena yang/creative Director

14 •

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

LGBTQ

Theatre draws in local content

Modus Vivendi Village Players performance will focus on ‘community building’ for all audiences BRYAN STEPHENS ARTS & LIFE EDITOR

JOSHUA AWOLADE/GRAPHICS EDITOR

The Modus Vivendi Village Players will be performing two nights of LGBTQ theatre in Kitchener in mid-September. Drawing in local content, the program is mostly centered on theatrical productions, but also draws in other aspects from the LGBTQ community.

“We are primarily theatre, but we also will have a variety show, drag performers and poetry,” said D. Morton, the artistic director for the Modus Vivendi Village Players. “We are open to expanding to what we perform in the future, but we will primarily be a theatre troupe.”

On top of being the artistic director for the group, Morton is also the writer, director, and an actor in one of the plays being performed. The group has been around for about a year, although the concept for the group is closer to six years old.

“About six years ago, there was a queer theatre show that happened at Club Renaissance. I got involved a month later with the idea it would happen again, but it never did. Five years later, I decided to just make it happen. So I gathered people together to figure out how we were going to do this.”

The meaning behind the performing group’s name also comes from various backgrounds.

“Modus Vivendi is Latin for ‘way of living,’ which seems appropriate because so often as a LGBTQ person it is a lifestyle, but it is a term in politics which means an agreement in which to disagree, and again the LGTBQ community will often experience people who disagree with our lifestyle, or there could be a lot of politics around sexual orientation and identity,” Morton said.

“It’s kind of this idea that we all don’t have to agree, or see eye-to-eye in order to work together.”

Sam Varteniuk is the manager of The Registry Theatre, where the performances will be held on Sept. 17 and 18. He said this group was “a way of checking boxes of partnerships with people in the community.”

“I have been looking for [queer theatre] programming, but also looking as a manager of theatre programing in September, which generally is a more quiet month since everyone is back in school. I know the LGBTQ community is very strong in terms of how they support events for and by them.”

With more than 15 years of theatrical production experience, Varteniuk is confident that Morton will do well based on what he has seen.

“My opinion of the people I know, such as the lighting designer, directors and D., is you’ve been around long enough, you start to know based upon the amount of communication

going back and forth how a group is doing in terms of health, how quickly they respond to things, how on top of things they are.”

“Everything is looking good to me in terms of when they are connecting with me on things such as props and costumes, and I can really tell the details.”

From the programming that is scheduled to happen, one aspect of the event Morton hopes people understand is that the production is meant to be a “community building project.”

“Even though it is LGBTQ focused, we are really excited to have a number of straight people who are involved in the show. We are really hoping we will get a large audience to come out. A lot of the pieces are going to have politics involved about being queer... but we also wanted to have elements that are a celebration of who we are and talking about our identity.”

Looking at Morton’s vision, Varteniuk believes she will have no problem accomplishing her goals.

“The vision is everyone is accepting and having fun together and in the same way you might go check out a show from a different culture, that queer theatre should also speak to the universal human experience.”

“That is a balance that D. is trying to represent, and I look forward to seeing her do that.”

FILM REVIEW

Cavalry uncomfort MYNT MARSELLUS WEB DIRECTOR

Cavalry, starring Brendan Gleeson opens in a Catholic confessional. In the first five minutes, a parishioner enters the confessional with Gleeson and describes how he was raped and abused by his priest when he was a child. He then threatens to kill Gleeson the following Sunday because while killing a guilty priest would be seen as normal, killing an innocent one would shock the world.

The film was written and directed

by John Michael McDonagh and is not easy to watch. Gleeson does a spectacular job portraying the feelings of an aging and tired priest and the rest of the cast, including Chris O’Dowd (the cop from Bridesmaids) and Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger from Game of Thrones) help reinforce that the entire community is aging.

The film’s greatest strength, though, is in the character Fiona, Gleeson’s daughter played by Kelly Reilly. Her arrival is due to a recent suicide attempt, and the way the script deals with that issue shows both what makes the film entertaining and difficult to swallow.

One of the more interesting scenes when considered from the perspective of modern Christianity happens when the priest played by Gleeson goes to investigate one of his parishoners who had come to mass with a black eye. He goes to her husband who promptly accuses the man she is currently sleeping with.

The priest is taken aback by the

The film’s greatest strength, though, is in the character Fiona, Gleeson’s daughter played by Kelly Reilly.

flippant way the husband talks aout his wife’s affair, but the man responds by saying that his wife has been happier than at any point previous in their marriage since she started sleeping with this other fellow.

The priest may not understand how modern dynamics of relationships don’t fit traditional catholic views, but he has to just keep going, supporting his parish however he can.

As Gleeson greets her at the train station he says that she committed “the classic error” of cutting across and not down. It is played as a joke, albeit an uncomfortable one. But in the next scene when someone at a local pub repeats the joke, she tells him to “stuff it,” demonstrating how the nature of the relationships in the film are dominated by intense history and personal politics.

Featuring heavy-hearted jokes about suicide and content concerning intimate partner violence, chronic disease and sexual abuse, the film is undoubtedly hard to watch. However, the film deals with those issues because it is trying to bring to light the issues that many churchgoers have often suppressed in their faith communities.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

arts & life • 15

16 •

FEATU

FEATURES EDITOR/ALANNA FAIREY

A Laurier love st

Editor-in-Chief Kate Turner reminisces with George and Cecilia Vasil met and fell in love at Wilfrid Laurier University almost 50 years ag 50 years ago, George Vasiloff looked across the dining hall and saw Cecilia Selkirk for the very first time. He turned to his friend and said, “I’m going to marry that girl.”

It was 1964 and Wilfrid Laurier University was known as Waterloo Lutheran University. Now, after 48 years of marriage, the Vasiloffs sit across from me in Veritas Café, adjacent to the very building George first laid eyes on his future wife.

“It took me a while to get up enough nerve to sit down and talk with her,” George said. “That happened one Saturday afternoon. You and Diane — her roommate — were sitting alone and my roommate and I came in and I said, ‘This is the time.’

So we went over and sat down.”

“Not beside me! I thought he was going after [Diane] — she was beautiful,” Cecilia laughed.

The next time George worked up the courage to speak to her, they were in Willison Hall, which at that time housed the library.

“She was over studying — probably the only time,” he joked. “I saw her there and went over and said hello to her.”

“I thought maybe we’d go for a little walk, but then he was gone!” Cecilia laughed.

With beaming smiles on their faces, the couple recounted their love story. Cecilia was an English student living in the women’s residence where, according to George, there were “very firm restrictions.”

“They had the vestibule, it was called the fishbowl, and that’s when you were saying good night to your girlfriend, that’s where it would take

place,” he continued.

When asked if boys were allowed into the residence, he quickly responded, “Oh, god no!”

George was studying geography and lived in Willison Hall. When Cecilia’s don noticed she had been spending a lot of time with him, she suggested she focus on her studies instead.

“She saw Cec wasn’t doing very well and she also noticed we had been walking together a lot on campus … she suggested that perhaps she should lay off her boyfriend and study a little bit,” George explained.

Looking at his wife he said, “You took her advice with a grain of salt. Your marks did improve a bit. We saw probably more of each other after that.”

The couple frequently joked about Cecilia’s studies while at Laurier, noting that she wasn’t the best student.

“Back then, Lutheran had a reputation of being easy to get into but tough to graduate from. And it’s true. Back then — I don’t know about now — but back then the standards were really high,” George said.

George often found himself helping Cecilia study when she felt like giving up. As they told one of their most treasured stories they could barely contain their laughter.

“We took the economics course together — I loved that class. I was carrying a B+ average and Cec was barely getting 50,” George recounted. “Come the final exam, I had everything just nailed. Cec never cracked her book.”

Cecilia continued, “I said, ‘I’m not gonna do this.’”

“So the final exam comes up and she says, ‘I don’t know a darnn thing.’ And she didn’t,” George said.

He said he was quite close with the professor and had seen what was potentially going to be on the exam, so he told Cecilia he would help her study.

The night before the exam they stayed up and crammed and he showed up to the exam feeling confident.

“I said to Cec, ‘What did you think?’

URES

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 • 17

tory

loff, who go

o

“It took me a while to get up enough nerve to sit down and talk with her.

That happened one Saturday afternoon...”

-George Vasiloff

e

k

g

e

.

And she said, ‘I didn’t know what I was doing in there … I did my best.’”

The exam period ended and the two went to their respective homes – George to Niagara Falls and Cecilia to Kenora.

When their final marks came in the mail they called each other, anxious to hear how the other did.

George asked her what she got in economics, “She said a B. I said, ‘B?’ She said ‘What’d you get?’ And I said, ‘D!’” Smiling, George continued, “Mathematically it would have been impossible for me to get a D and for her to get a B.” Because he was close with the professor he thought he was playing a practical joke with them.

“I said, ‘I’m going to complain; I’m going back, I know I got at least a B.’ She said, ‘If you go, that’s it. I’m not going to marry you.’ ” Cecilia laughed as George said, “To this day she thinks she got a B in economics and I know I didn’t get a D in economics. Do you hear a little rancor in my voice?”

So George accepted his mark and the two did eventually get married in 1966.

On the day of their wedding, George started getting anxious at the thought of being married while still in school.

“I started getting cold feet. I said, ‘What the heck am I doing? I don’t have any money, I don’t have a job and still going to school. What business have I got taking on the responsibility of being a married man?’ Jeeze, I started to sweat,” he said.

“My friend said to my dad, ‘Quick,

get him a shot of whiskey.’ So he gave me a shot of whiskey and that calmed me down. I think I had two shots. The rest is history.”

The two moved into a one-bedroom apartment on Hazel Street, which often housed friends staying over for dances and Homecoming. The next year Cecilia graduated and George followed the year after that. They eventually moved around to Milverton and Toronto and eventually settled in Mississauga.

George’s memory of their time at WLU is so strong he could tell me the names of professors he had and what they learned in class.

“I remember everything,” he smiled.

“He does, honestly,” Cecilia continued.

However, Cecilia is beginning to lose her memory. She suffers from early onset Alzheimer’s and George often had to help her remember during our time together.

They returned to campus on Sept. 4 of 2014, 50 years after meeting here, to reminisce and reflect on the time they spent here together.

In past years to celebrate their anniversary, which was the day before their visit here, the two have travelled to California and New York City. However, this year they decided to keep it simple.

“Cec’s favourite eating place is McDonalds,” George said. “So we went to McDonald’s and each had a Big Mac and ice cream cones after.”

After 48 years of marriage and despite Cecilia’s condition, the couple still looked at each other as if they were newlyweds all throughout our time together.

They laughed, smiled and joked as they told me their love story — all because George noticed the beautiful girl across the dining hall and worked up the courage to say “hello”.

PHOTOS BY WILL HUANG/PHOTO EDITOR AND COURTESY OF LAURIER ARCHIVES

18 •

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

• 19

Join us for….

The God That FORUM Comes (out of four)

“…tuneful and terrific” Toronto Star (out of five)

“…clever and evocative” Now Toronto “…fun and feisty” The Globe and Mail

Photo: Trudie Lee

A rock & roll cabaret starring musical sensation Hawksley Workman Created by Christian Barry & Hawksley Workman Produced by 2b theatre company

Tickets are only $39 and include a drink!

September, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20; 11:30 p.m.

200 + FORUM EVENTS • NOW through OCTOBER 2014

stratfordfestival.ca/ Hawksley | 519.273.1600 Selected Forum Events Supported by

Sustaining support for the Forum is generously provided by Kelly & Michael Meighen and the T.R. Meighen Foundation Support for the 2014 Forum is generously provided by Nandita & Julian Wise Support for Peer into the Playbill is provided in memory of Dr. W. Philip Hayman

20 • games

Dear Life Sudoku Dear Life is your opportunity to write a letter to your life, allowing you to vent your anger with life’s little frustrations in a completely public forum.

All submissions to Dear Life are anonymous, should be no longer than 100 words and must be addressed to your life. Submissions can be sent to dearlife@thecord.ca no later than Monday at noon each week.

Dear Cord, Sweet new website! Where was the “quote of the week” in this week’s paper though?

Sincerely, Missing that gem Dear Laurier, Please don’t shut down half of the main White parking lot on the first day of school. It’s hard enough to find parking already.

Sincerely, Gonna park on the lawn Dear Life, Why on earth would Laurier design the new Library entrance so it’s even further to walk to get inside, which will be awful in the winter?

Sincerely, It’s all a nice walk in the park until Canada freezes over Dear Life, Does anyone else feel like the class of 2018 looks like a group of children?

Sincerely, Are they actually 12 or am I old as shit?

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

GAMES • 21

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Crossword

ACROSS 1 – Take the honey and run 6 – Large mop 10 – Hit with an open hand 14 – Lugged 15 – Silver screen 16 – Swiss river 17 – In spite of 20 – From _____ Z 21 – Cooks in fat 22 – Buenos _____ 23 – Life stories 24 – Sighs of relief 25 – Roundabout expression 32 – Actress Taylor 33 – City near Povo 34 – Uno + due 35 – Mine entrance 36 – “Awake and Sing!” playwright 38 – Mother of Hermes 39 – Droop, sink 40 – Display 41 – Hue 42 – Forebrain 46 – Guadalajara gold 47 – Capital of Italy 48 – Yoga posture 51 – Replay option 53 – “Seinfeld” uncle 56 – Direct 59 – Milk source 60 – Designer Gernreich 61 – Knot again 62 – Architectural pier 63 – Repose 64 – Remains of a fire

DOWN 1 – Sicilian volcano 2 – Booty 3 – Director Preminger 4 – Church perch

Spot the Saad Every week The Cord will hide this picture of WLUSP president Dani Saad in an image. When you find him, tweet at @cordnews using the hashtag #spottheSaad and tell us where he is.

$5

Bring in this coupon & get 1 MP Pre- Workout

Like us on Expires Sept 30. 2014

5 – Building 6 – Disunion 7 – Learned 8 – Formicary residents 9 – Actress Arthur 10 – One who enjoys inflicting pain 11 – Den 12 – “Judith” composer 13 – Clothes-pins 18 – Drop ¬¬¬¬_____ (moon) 19 – Book about Nineveh 23 – Author Harte 24 – Deck quartet 25 – Chest or closet material 26 – English architect Jones 27 – Lerner’s partner 28 – Leftover 29 – Author Calvino 30 – The Hunter 31 – Approach 32 – Coarse file 36 – Horrors!

37 – ER VIP 38 – Yard tunneler 40 – Turkish palace 41 – Secret society of Naples 43 – Musical composition 44 – Pecuniary gain 45 – _____ sapiens 48 – “The Thin Man” dog 49 – Type of gun 50 – I smell _____ !

51 – Elisabeth of “Leaving Las Vegas” 52 – Former Fords 53 – Plaster backing 54 – Cleveland’s lake 55 – Keats creations 57 – Boxer’s warning 58 – Bentley of “American Beauty”

280 Victoria St. N, Kitchener 519-893-9387

STUDENT SPECIAL

for free giveaways

22 •

Editorial

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 Opinion editor Moyosore Arewa

Students’ responsibility in dealing with poor housing standards Three months ago, we wrote about Waterloo’s “phony housing bubble” and suggested that the student housing industry is dominated with developers who care too much about making a quick profit, and not enough about creating tangible value for those whom the houses are being built.

This week, we revisit this situation, not because some positive changes have been made, but because it is just as vexatious now as it was then — if not more.

Recently, Schembri Property Management was unable to fulfill its end of a bargain to allow tenants move into a building on September 1.

Their reason is simple: the building was not yet completed. This is a common trend across the city.

In fact, about two years ago, Preston House on King Street faced the same problem with move-in dates.

Sometimes, companies claim to have completed the buildings in order to fulfill the move-in date, only for tenants to move into apartments that are anything but ready.

Other times, everything seems allright until a room floods, or perhaps even a lobby. These problems, even the little ones, are evident not of buildings that have been properly planned and meticulously built, but of buildings that have been rushed, carelessly.

However, instead of only pointing

out developers’ dubious intent and inefficient execution, this week, we will also look at some of the other factors and stakeholders.

In particular, we look at the tenants, who more often than not are unable to protect themselves against the sort of exploitation that has unfortunately become the norm.

In order to protect themselves, students should first of all make sure they are reading their lease agreements — or at least getting a professional to read over it. Such professionals are not hard to find.

They could be anyone, from a scrupulous friend or relative, to certain people within the Students’ Union and residential services, who, through special services, are dedicated to helping students in such situations.

Nevertheless, it must be said that the university could be doing a better job of making such services known to students.

The fact remains that the onus is on the students to know their rights, and if they remain oblivious to these rights, companies will continue to take advantage of them.

Although students’ awareness of what lies within lease agreements would not automatically fix the housing problem, it would do a lot to weed out those developers who never seem to be up to any good.

Addressing the issue of insensitivity in, and disregard of, our safe places At what point do we draw a line between the humorous and the political and morally incorrect?

More importantly, at what point is it necessary to forgo certain rights and freedoms in order to assuage the fears and sensitivities of others? This is not the first time these questions are being asked, and it certainly would not be the last.

Over the past week, there have been some publicized incidents of what many regard as blatantly inappropriate behavior. At Brock University, there were collective outcries over a poster made by some student leaders, which read: “Honk if you are dropping off your daughter.”

Miles away at Carleton University, there were more outcries over a photo of students wearing a shirt upon which “fuck safe space” was printed.

These two incidents are especially appalling because the perpetrators were not unassuming students, but people who serve as student leaders.

These incidents are neither accidental nor isolated, but rather, they are evident of the much bigger problem of indifference and unconcealed insensitivity towards critical issues of social concern. They are evident of a society that has become numb to wrongdoings, and one that continuously mistakes the unconventional for the conventional.

How, then, are we to remedy this problem? Are we to simply ignore inappropriate behaviours? Are we to say, lazily, that “boys will be boys” or “they are kids, and will outgrow their meanness and insensitivity?”

Or are we simply to harden ourselves to such an extent that those occurrences of misconduct become heavily ignorable? No, we believe this problem must be faced head-on.

Students, especially student leaders, must be trained to better understand the differences between being humorous and being disrespectful.

More importantly, they must all be able to recognize the importance of maintaining and abiding by their collective safe places, free of implicit and explicit discrimination.

Another important dimension to this debate is one that is close to home. How equipped is our university to deal with future cases of disregard by students of their peers?

Would the administration, in an attempt to defend its reputation, be more inclined to push scandal under the rug, or would they gravitate towards addressing the issue appropriately?

Until we are able to discern this, we urge students on campus to remember the importance of thoughtfulness, in words and in action, because not everyone is able to simply “forget” about abuse.

These unsigned editorials are based off informal discussions and then agreed upon by the majority of The Cord’s editorial board, including the Editor-in-Chief and Opinion Editor. The arguments made may reference any facts that have been made available through interviews, documents or other sources. The views presented do not necessarily reflect those of The Cord’s volunteers, staff or WLUSP.

The Cord is published by Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications.

Contact Dani Saad, WLUSP President and Publisher 75 University Ave.W, Waterloo ON N2L 3C5

JOSHUA AWOLADE/GRAPHICS EDITOR

Becoming ‘body positive’ Alanna fairey features editor

I was sitting in a coffee shop over the weekend doing some readings when the table beside me decided to start critiquing every girl that walked by the window.

They criticized a few strangers passing by for being too fat, others for being too skinny and some more for being too pale or too tanned.

By the time they left the coffee shop, I was sure that they had criticized every angle of the human body, completely ignoring the contradictions.

With the impacts of the media and the polite lies of society, it really isn’t a surprise that body positivity is such a hard practice to come by.

Instead of conditioning people to believe that they have to have slimmer thighs and size zero jeans, we should be encouraging ways to achieve a higher self-esteem and a change in perspective.

Being exposed to every diet fad to help women look like Miranda Kerr or Candace Swanepoel, and being told that certain ideals are the key to social acceptance is damaging to vulnerable young women. Girls as young as 10 years old are destroying their bodies in order to fit into what they believe is an accepted standard, resulting in disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).

Being “fat” by societal standards is not the only disparagement that

There is no shame in ignoring societal standards and having your own conceptions of beauty.

women face. Sometimes there is pressure for “skinny” women, as well. Thin women face criticism for supposedly promoting anorexia, completely disregarding the reality that some woman are just naturally thin. Instead, they are slammed for not being “fit” or for having no muscle or meat on their bones.

Nonetheless, women aren’t the only victims of societal influences on body image — men are just as susceptible to these notions.

If a man isn’t buff, strong and doesn’t resemble cross fit star Rich Fronning, his masculinity is brought into question.

Personal records and scientific research have shown that men have also developed eating disorders and BDD to avoid being society’s interpretation of “scrawny” or “nerdy.”

The problem with our society is that we are never happy. One minute, people are criticized for being too fat and just when we are about to accept this ideal, society spins it around and tries to convince you that being skinny is a crime. The real crime is that we are trying to please a society that is influencing us to place all importance on appearances at the expense of innate qualities.

If we continue to focus on the exterior, there would be nothing left inside. If we focus on the qualities that make us “special,” then we will start to believe it and live by it in our everyday lives.

And then maybe this will bring us to a point in our lives where we can accept bodies of all shapes and sizes without feeling the need to criticize each other for not conforming.

As someone who is currently recovering from an eating disorder, I never want to have a daughter who feels that her self-worth must be based on what others believe to be beautiful or accepted.

I never want to have a son who thinks that not lifting 200 pound weights will make him an outsider amongst his peers.

Instead, I encourage everyone to promote body positivity so that one day they can teach their daughters and sons that every body is different, and to accept that as long as they are confident in themselves, what society tells them about their body won’t impact their lives.

Becoming body positive does not require much work. Simply changing certain thought patterns can make a huge impact. It is not silly to thank your body for getting you through the day and not falling apart when life gets tough. Instead of criticizing your body for what it doesn’t give you, try to be grateful for what it can. By doing that, you are one step closer to ending the tradition of body shaming.

There is no shame in ignoring societal standards and having your own concrete conceptions of beauty.

I know that I would rather get labeled a narcissist than spend any more years hating my body.

• 23

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Opinion

opinion editor moyosore arewa

ISIS’ unlikely recruitment field Victor Ly opinion columnist

By now, the entire world has heard of ISIS, the Islamic military group that controls significant parts of Syria and Iraq.

Their mission is to establish a Muslim caliphate worldwide, imposing their own brand of Sharia Law on all who fall under their banner.

Recent history shows that radical religious groups in the Middle East are not uncommon; having been heavily destabilized during the events following World War II and during the Cold War, many groups like ISIS have risen up and attempted to gain control before.

One unique characteristic about ISIS, though, is its appeal to foreigners, particularly those from the Western world.

The Soufan Group and the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization suggests that nearly 3,000 ISIS soldiers originate from the West.

Furthermore, Richard Barrett of the Soufan Group also stated, “A fair percentage of those arriving from non-Muslim majority countries are converts to Islam.”

This begs the question: why would one leave life in a first world nation to go risk their life in Syria fighting for what would normally be a foreign

contributed photo

cause? Even more so, why are some converting just to join this movement?

The answer goes deeper than just religious identity. When we take a more analytical look at the issue, we can see that this is a story of alienation — of wanting to belong to something greater than ourselves.

For many, it’s about finally having a home after the entire world has ostracized, harassed and punished you for simply belonging to your faith and being able to defend others from

receiving the same treatment.

For new converts, it’s about having a purpose for which you will actively participate.

Take John Maguire, for example, a teenager from Ottawa that joined the ISIS cause in 2013. He was well regarded by his peers, did well in school, and lived in a small, closeknit community, so it again boggles the mind as to why he would do such a thing.

But there’s a deeper side – he kept most of his secrets to himself and his

parents got divorced while he was in his early teens.

This pattern of defection is also evident in the case of the American Donald Morgan: after he went through a divorce and failed to achieve his lifelong dream of being a United States paratrooper, Morgan attempted to join ISIS in 2014 before he was arrested. He was “attracted to ISIS because he admired their devotion and the fact that they put the worship of Islam above everything else.”

Learning out Loud at Laurier

The wanted sorcerer

Laura Mae Lindo diversity and equity office Dani Saad Cord alum

One August long ago, before democratic societies, global governance and processed food, Saudi Arabia convicted and executed 26 individuals in a single month. Some were tortured until confession and all faced a legal system that wasn’t codified, but depended instead on a judge’s interpretation of Islamic Law. Of those 26 executed, some were murderers, others were drug smugglers — but one was a sorcerer. We know he was a sorcerer because he was convicted and beheaded for his sorcery.

Thankfully, he and his owl were captured just moments before boarding the Hogwarts Express. Oh hold on, this was August of this year?

I can’t believe this. I really thought the Saudi minister of justice had a good head on his shoulders.

In any event, sorcerers have been migrating steadily out of the Kingdom under the cloak of darkness (and invisibility) as Saudi judges continue to look for the missing piece of the Quran which makes clear that women should neither drive nor have an education.

Meanwhile, United States of America president Barack Obama

There’s a quote from the classic movie Fight Club that summarizes the feeling of alienation: “We’re the middle children of history … No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives.”

ISIS, promising to bring about the religious revolution that was prophesied in the Quran, perfectly fills that need. Not only that, but they are actively aware of this, which is why they’ve taken their marketing activities onto social media in order to increase their exposure to vulnerable people worldwide.

People are quick to point the finger at religious influences, unstable societies and failed governments when discussing extremism, but they never seem to go one step further into addressing the needs of the human heart. There is a reason why even the US, with all its military might, has failed to completely stomp out extremism in the region.

There is a reason why their numbers have not dwindled, but grown over time. And the reason is because these movements give the downtrodden such a sense of meaning and brotherhood that they’ve never known before, something that our capitalistic societies have neglected to provide for far too long.

Next time you read the news and hear about a British national-turnedjihadi beheading a journalist, take a moment and reflect on the scene that’s presented to you. That monster you see was created here at home.

lena yang/creative director

has made clear that the U.S. will not stand for genocide and will support the rights of minority groups that are receiving media attention around the globe.

The White House has called on all countries that value human rights and justice to protect the latest minority at risk: sorcerers. A source from within the Pentagon revealed that the U.S. government had offered refugee status to sorcerers in hopes that they could make the last decade in Iraq disappear.

In other news related to minorities, protests following the police shooting of Michael Brown have lead to a change in police hiring policy.

Obama has expressed far less interest in the protection of this minority group, but due to recent public

scrutiny, white police officers will be phased out and completely removed from the system by 2017.

Police departments in all urban and suburban areas will exclusively operate with black police officers, so the mainstream media and white people everywhere can go back to expressing little to no interest in the lives of young black men.

Police officers in Ferguson, the town where Michael Brown was shot, will now wear cameras for increased transparency and accountability.

This solution was deemed the best option after an investigation confirmed that America’s gun culture, along with racism, segregation and underfunded law enforcement agencies had nothing to do with the shooting.

It was not long ago that I was invited to watch a talk given by Joe Ehrmann at Wilfrid Laurier University. As part of the #Not My Laurier campaign to end gendered violence, Mr. Erhmann was invited to speak to a room filled with Laurier’s student athletes.

He spoke of normalized and highly problematic visions of “masculinity” and “femininity.” He challenged the audience to define their sense of “being a man” and “being a woman” by their own standards.

And when he opened the floor to audience questions, it was clear that the difficulty of making his challenge a reality was very real: “How do you make it safe for change?” a member of the audience asked.

Mr. Erhmann took a moment before he responded, and it was during that brief pause that I realized why we at the Diversity and Equity Office are doing what we do out loud, in public forums, for all to hear.

There is hope in believing that if we explore and redefine “safe spaces” that we might learn to exist in the discomfort that is required when real change happens.

So how do we make it safe for change to happen? I have spent many years advocating for the importance of making our discussions

about diversity, equity and social inclusion explicit.

I believe strongly that without explicit dialogue – without creating forums to have our hard conversations in public – nothing will ever change.

We must also recognize something else: by Learning Out Loud with the DEO, we cannot guarantee “safety” if safety means being comfortable.

I have learned that being challenged to justify our beliefs to our selves or to others is not always an easy road to travel.

But by Learning Out Loud with the DEO we can guarantee change, because change comes in those moments when we are provided with an opportunity to question our beliefs.

Over the course of next school year, the DEO will lead the Laurier campuses in re-thinking structural norms.

It will facilitate conversations with faculty, staff and students in order to delve into a deeper dialogue about what is making Laurier and its community tick.

With monthly updates on interesting topics and challenging ideas, we hope that you will want to join in the conversation.

I must be honest – sometimes the conversations will feel uncomfortable. But the possibility of creating a space for authentic dialogue is a benefit that cannot be denied.

And it is my hope that by initiating these dialogues, over time, we will co-create a more inviting space for challenging conversations; the kind that makes change happen.

24 • OPINION

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

The politics of pipelines SPENCER GIBARA OPINION COLUMNIST

I’ve never seen a more noble cause packed to the brim with so many illinformed people.

The environmental movement has become such a mixed bag of idiocy that it has begun to turn me against the crucial issue of environmental protection.

All the arguments opposing the Northern Gateway, Keystone XL, and Energy East pipelines are either ridiculous, shortsighted or both.

First of all, let’s explore the project that’s generating the most controversy now: Northern Gateway pipeline.

This Enbridge pipeline would carry Canadian oil to the coast of British Colombia and allow us to export it to the world.

Right now the United States is the only country we can sell our oil to and because of that, they buy it at a discount. In fact, we lose $18 billion a year because of this discount. That’s money that could be going to infrastructure, healthcare and education.

Once we begin exporting oil around the globe, we can charge the U.S. appropriate rates and begin profiting even more, thereby effectively strengthening our economy.

But the environmentalists don’t want that.

They have been deceiving the public into believing it will destroy the environment. But that’s a myth.

An independent environmental review panel has ruled that the pipeline will be safe if the 209 environmental regulations they have laid

So instead of going after the “evil” Stephen Harper, it’s time Canada turned on those who are actually trying to hurt us.

out are met, and that’s exactly what’s happening.

All the environmental regulations are being met in the development of this pipeline.

This is hardly the apocalyptic tale we’ve been fed by these activists.

Secondly, there’s the case of the Keystone XL pipeline, which has by now become the most studied pipeline in the history of mankind.

Everything about this pipeline has been approved as safe for both citizens and the environment.

The only thing blocking it is President Obama’s lack of will power, guided predominantly by more activists.

By delaying it constantly, the president is able to pander to his base while not actually scrapping the project.

Lastly, we have the Energy East pipeline whose opposition is probably the most ludicrous of the bunch.

More protesters have been shouting to cancel this project on the grounds that they don’t want oil flowing between Alberta and the East Coast.

There’s just one problem: there’s already oil in the pipeline.

Energy East isn’t a new pipeline being built; it’s just a reversal.

Instead of Canada spending money and bringing Saudi Arabian oil from

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

east the west, the reversal will bring oil sands oil from the west to the east.

There is already oil in this pipeline, so the opposition is just campaigning against Canadian economic prosperity I think Canadians need to remember that pipelines aren’t some new, untested technology.

We have thousands of pipelines in the ground today, safely moving everything from oil to sewage to natural gas.

What these conflicts really come down to are environmental extremists who will do everything they can

to stop Canadian energy development.

The environmentalists aren’t really against pipelines at all, they are against the oil sands, which they view as a cancer in Canada instead of a blessing.

Of course, this sort of dogmatic, ridged opposition to the oil sands didn’t just happen suddenly. There has been a continuous and rigorous campaign to discredit and demonize the good that comes from our oil extraction, and industry as a whole.

The reason I said that opposition is shortsighted is because an analysis

of the facts shows how crucial the oil sands are to both Canada and the world. The oil sands are approximately 1/1000 of global carbon emissions, but they are our largest economic assets.

Therefore, stopping the oil sands will cripple us as a nation, and do virtually nothing to save the planet.

So instead of going after the “evil” Stephen Harper, it’s time Canada turned on those who are actually trying to hurt us. Let’s fight for Canadian prosperity and against the misleading protesters. It’s in our nation’s best interest.

What actually makes us special MYNT MARSELLUS WEB DIRECTOR

Last week, Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union president, Sam Lambert, gave a speech to all first-year Wilfrid Laurier University students during the opening ceremonies for Orientation Week.

After telling some stories about his childhood and teenage years, Sam told everyone in the room that he is gay. I repeat this not to sensationalize what he has done, but to recognize that coming out in front of almost 3000 people in one night is very courageous.

But then he brought up one of the most widely known prayers in Christianity, the serenity prayer.

For Sam, rather than faith being the source of that serenity, it was arriving at Laurier that changed his life, because Laurier “doesn’t worry about the things you can’t change.”

After seeing Sam’s speech, I felt uncomfortable. As a member of the queer community myself, I was in awe of him for coming out as bluntly as he did, but as a Laurier student, I didn’t like his message.

I don’t necessarily think that

Sam is wrong in saying that Laurier “doesn’t worry about the things you can’t change,” but I don’t think he got what makes Laurier so special entirely right either.

I was diagnosed with depression early in second year and it was evident that my depression was of the kind that I would need antidepressants to help with. What made that experience special, and what makes Laurier special, is not that it accepted what I couldn’t change, but that it supported my desire to change.

Sam brought up the serenity prayer, but only talked about the first part. However, the most important part is the end. Laurier doesn’t say “you are who you are when you arrive, and we will support you in that.”

Laurier is better than that. It gives us the wisdom to know the difference between the things we can’t change and those things that we can.

Laurier gives students the courage to change what they wish to change about themselves and about the world.

That’s what I wanted to hear from the president of WLUSU when I was in my first year. That’s what I want every first year at this school to know, and I think Sam would agree with me. We need to focus less on the things we can’t change, and more on the wisdom to know the difference.

opinion • 25

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Hidden costs of self exploration

kate turner/file photo

Don Morgenson Community contributor

As I teach Introductory Psychology to first-year students, I meet with many who are studying different disciplines and such discussions are always interesting. One day, a student studying English came to my office to speak about a recent term test.

Because I am always interested in the reasons students decide to study a particular discipline, I asked her why she was studying English.

I was expecting some of the more common reasons, such as: “English will be the language of world-wide communication and teachers of English will be in great demand,” or, “I am an aspiring writer or poet” or, “I have been inspired by some of the great writers, such as Wordsworth, Austen or Woolf.”

But it was none of the above.

Rather, her answer reflected her hunger for self-knowledge. She said: “I want to know who I am.”

She went on to remind me of Polonius’ advice to his son Laertes in Shakespeare’s tragic drama “Hamlet:” “This above all – to thine own self be true … Though can not then be false to any man.”

Of course, self-exploration is of vital importance, but I was tempted to warn her of the hidden costs of such an effort. Getting to know oneself is certainly advisable, but it can be an unsettling and disturbing experience.

In Leo Tolstoy’s “Resurrection,” the writer suggested that attempts to describe other people, or oneself for that matter are illusory.

People are like a flowing river, Tolstoy said, a forever-changing stream, sometimes broad and quiet then turbulent, muddy, clear, cold or warm – and we all have such characteristics. What is important, Tolstoy suggested, is that the route to self-knowledge must involve a studied knowledge of many others.

That is, accurate assessments of one-

Getting to know oneself is certainly advisable, but it can be an unsettling and disturbing experience.

self require some critical judgment of others. Generally speaking, such is not the case today, and approval of one’s rather small group of peers is of central importance among the young, who inadvertently reflect the beliefs and values of such age-mates.

And beyond our young, one can see focused ego-involvement on the shelves of bookstores - in the biographies, autobiographies, journals, diaries and collections of letters.

For example, many more of us know details of the turbulent and tragic lives of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath than have ever read their

poetry.

Such voyeurism seems more compelling than an appreciation of their art.

Poet W.H. Auden, speaking to students at Oxford University in 1956, told the undergraduates the lecture that impressed him most was on compulsory Anglo-Saxon literature, held in a large lecture hall and delivered by none other than J.R.R. Tolkien who was reading from “Beowulf.”

This particular lecture changed Auden’s life forever. It is interesting that the young, so nostalgic regarding the past, lack a depth of knowledge regarding that past and remain a-historical if not anti-historical Some years ago, social critic Harold Bloom made newsworthy comments that upset many when he suggested that the masterpieces of literature are crucial to the survival of our civilization – and that no generation can afford to ignore them.

He further argued that people today have little knowledge of such classics.

But our students cannot know

what is great in literature without dedicated mentors, guides or teachers.

It is only by engaging students and urging them to engage themselves as well that in the old we can discover the new.

To remain unformed by great writers and thinkers of the past, we are all deprived of exciting discoveries and our lives diminished.

So while the quest for self-discovery is necessary, transcending oneself and engaging the world may lead to a more refined delineation of the self.

In “Sailing to Byzantium,” W.B. Yeats said that our modern age might be “no country for old men.”But Yeats just may have been wrong.

Through continuing contact with what Yeats referred to as “monuments of un-ageing intellect,” people of all ages will not only find themselves, but also flourish. We must remind ourselves of that pulsating world which lays beyond the individual self and those lessons learned by engaging that world are steadfastly relevant to one’s selfhood.

Sex, security and celebrity photo leaks The trend of leaked celebrity nude photos is alarming and poses other extenuating questions

Cara peticca opinion columnist

Technology fuels society – we Instagram our meals before we eat them, update our status before we indulge in life, tweet witty retorts to nobody for mild entertainment, instantly meet potential one night stands within a certain radius.

We click, share, like, favourite and replay. Paired with technology is speed, as the rate at which we consume and spread this information is unprecedented.

We live in a fast and interconnected world where social media offers a Big Brother presence; nothing is secret, nothing is sacred and surprises do not exist.

Recently, a surprise of the worst kind rocked Hollywood when sensi-

tive photographs of celebrities were leaked onto the Internet.

Over 30 women of celebrity status were targeted, including Jennifer Lawrence, Avril Lavigne, Hayden Panettiere, Kate Upton, Kirsten Dunst, Rihanna and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Debatably, privacy is difficult to come by once you cross a certain threshold of fame.

The identity of the mysterious hacker is difficult to establish or verify. Authorities are investigating further to determine if this was the work of one hacker or a ring of hackers.

The word “hack” seems complicated, and surely what comes to mind is an incredibly intelligent person sitting in a dark room with 50 computer screens illuminating their life’s work.

The thing is, hacking isn’t difficult at all, and in fact, Apple has been massively criticized for a breach in the security – or lack thereof – of iCloud and Find My iPhone.

Moreover, did the hack come from America? Was this an international violation?

Breaking into Jennifer Lawrence’s iPhone, for instance, requires a username and a password.

You would have immediate access not only to her personal photos, but her contacts, messages, emails and passwords to other accounts. Hacking is simple and difficult to trace.

Although Apple is dodging responsibility, it has hired engineers to look into the breach and to define their role in this reveal.

Did the hacker work at Apple? Was this iCloud information readily available? This entire situation poses two very important questions.

First of all, regardless of celebrity status, can we trust our various devices to keep our secrets?

If we save a photo to iCloud or to SkyDrive, are we indirectly saving it to the worldwide web where it will be stored indefinitely?

Unless these celebrities have a hard copy of their private photos

safely tucked away in an album gathering dust under their beds, is it fair game?

Ricky Gervais nailed it in his tweet about the release of the photos: “Celebrities, make it harder for hackers to get nude pics of you from your computer by not putting nude pics of yourself on your computer.”

This message begs the question, are we as students safe with our own technology?

Can we sit comfortably in a lecture hall and be rest assured that our racy photos will not be distributed to our peers?

If an iCloud hack can fail a seemingly untouchable celebrity, perhaps our devices are not as secure as we would like them to be.

Second, this is a clear violation of privacy. There is a lot of dissatisfaction that the release of the leaks were non-consensual and the hacker is more or less a sex offender.

Perhaps, then, Gervais’ comment can be manipulated to mirror the ever so common “Girls, wear more

Debatably, privacy is difficult to come by once you cross a certain threshold of fame.

clothing and you won’t be attacked.”

Is it the same thing?

In the event that those responsible are located, how would this trial work? When no profit is earned, is unrestricted sharing of a public figure illegal?

While it is terrible that these women have been exposed unexpectedly, society is dangerously curious.

Let this be a lesson for every “sext” you send, every nude you share and how lax you are about privacy settings on your devices.

26 • Opinion

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

The value of a university education

Laila hack/graphic artist

Moyosore arewa opinion editor

Much of the rhetoric on the unworthiness of a university degree, although prevalent, is flawed.

Many are quick to draw on examples of people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, who did not need university degrees to be successful.

In the process, those skeptics often fail to mention the presidents, physicists, astronauts, human-rights lawyers, activists, medical doctors, surgeons and teachers who — like Gates and Jobs — are able to impact the world in a substantial way, but who would have been less likely to

do so without a university degree.

Nonetheless, they are on the right track, and unfortunately at this moment it is much easier to be a doubting Thomas than it is to be optimistic.

Somewhere along the way, we have become wired into conceiving of formal education not as an end in itself, but as a means to material wealth, power or influence.

Because of this, university education has become a commercial affair between two people: the university administration becomes a false prophet who promises the kingdom of God, but only in exchange for money, status or other worldly things, while the student becomes a credulous disciple who blindly follows.

Regardless of this, we would be doing future generations a great disservice by simply demeaning the

value or necessity of a university education.

Instead, our focus should shift from purely describing and criticizing, to prescribing a plausible solution.

With that said, there are some ways to undo this trend. First of all, we must continue to stress the importance of an well-rounded, interdisciplinary education, in which students become immune to the dangers of over-specialization or over-concentration.

This way, the business student is not simply a business student, and the physics student is not simply a physics student.

Secondly, although it is necessary to think deeply about the kinds of jobs available upon graduating from university, it is equally important to focus on learning just for the sake of it, rather than dreaming incessantly

about some misconceived end goal or another.

In doing so, we develop an indirect benefit from our university experience — one that cannot be quantified by a meritocracy or by future employers, but serves as a benefit nonetheless.

Thirdly, we must stop belittling the significance of a background in the humanities.

An education — or even the semblance of an education — in the humanities goes beyond simply writing essays and sitting through tedious three-hour lectures about Jean Baudrillard’s post-modernist theories.

It gives each of us the opportunity to truly discover ourselves, and in doing so, we understand others better.

It also teaches us the value of asking difficult questions about the

way we live our lives, the way we treat those different from us and the way we conceive of those things that have become almost too universal to question.

Moreover, a background in the humanities helps create a society filled with people who are not just good at their specific fields alone, but are also aware of their socio-political and cultural environment, and are able to engage in deep thought and dialogue about the things happening around them.

There is still a very long way to go in fixing our university system, and it will likely get worse before it gets better.

But, there are several people approaching this problem with a critical, normative and open-minded outlook, and that is reason enough to be optimistic, if not for our generation, then for future generations.

Fear-mongering and an unfortunate disease An assessment of the Ebola virus and the international community’s closed-minded response

Shelby Blackley Campus news editor

Like many other outbreaks of mysterious diseases, Ebola Virus Disease wasn’t even slightly significant in Canada until there was a possibility of a case here.

The Ebola crisis, which is affecting West African countries such as Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, has been going on since mid-March, but headlines didn’t focus much on the disease until almost late-July, probably because there were increased fears of the likelihood of it spreading to Canada.

The Globe and Mail reported that Ebola is a sign of something much bigger to come: the African health system is plagued by poverty and neglect, and as a result, things could become much worse than they currently are.

International NGOs and governments alike have not been as helpful as they could be to West African countries that are affected by Ebola mostly because these areas are currently in a “hot zone” with not much risk of transmitting somewhere else — it’s not a disease that is transmitted through air, water or mosquitoes, so why the concern?

This closed-minded thinking is forcing the affected countries to fight the disease alone, without a functional health system and proper care procedures.

A disease such as Ebola is treatable only when the proper treatment is provided, but the fear that it will be transmitted to North America in the process makes organizations reluctant to help.

Simply put, it’s a lose-lose situation for those affected. The countries don’t have proper care and North America is not willing to supply it because of fear.

This counterproductively leads to an increased risk of a global pandemic.

A woman who recently returned from Cameroon fainted in a Hilton Hotel in Saint John, N.B. just last week.

As a precaution, a lockdown was enforced at the hotel and remained in effect for almost six hours.

One woman visited Africa and fell ill at a hotel, and the concern becomes a near crisis.

Our global responsibility is so limited because we refuse to illicit a proactive approach towards potential pandemics and rather panic about one case that can be fixed with proper treatment — which is readily available here.

Instead, we should have a proactive approach in giving international aid to West Africa — such as having enough doctors to provide treatment for Ebola, or perhaps by simply sharing our research.

But instead of taking this approach, Sierra Leone is forced to order people to take part in a threeday lockdown to stop the spread of the disease — something Doctors Without Borders says will be “extremely difficult for health workers to accurately identify cases.”

Travel bans are being implemented, which could stop medical professionals from helping the African countries.

With the crisis becoming a large threat in Africa, the World Health Organization just announced that the Ebola virus is spreading “exponentially” in Liberia with many cases expected to come over the next three weeks.

Travel bans are being implemented, which could stop medical supplies and trained professionals from helping the African countries.

Poverty is still winning in those countries because government and international officials are taking the wrong approach towards the crisis, thereby making the outbreak worse than it should be, and foreshadowing a grave period to come.

North America’s inability to take a proactive approach on Ebola is going to result in a reactive response, which, in turn, will make the epidemic much harder to contain.

With cases getting worse, international aid needs to increase and a proactive approach needs to be taken, or a virus that is not easily treatable will create the destructive pandemic everyone fears.

contributed photo

opinion • 27

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Tim Horton’s: a lost legacy

Vanity on social media

joshua awolade/graphics editor

CATHERINE RACHER opinion columnIST

heather davidson/photo editor

MYNT MARSELLUS WEB DIRECTOR

26 years ago the Canadian public, along with its political spheres, engaged in a long debate over the 1988 federal election.

On one side, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney argued that a bilateral free trade agreement with the United States would be beneficial for the Canadian economy.

On the other side, Liberal party leader and former Prime Minister John Turner argued that Canada would be at a loss for decades — if not centuries — to come.

In the end, Mulroney won out and within six years the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

What’s often forgotten about the Free Trade debate is that it had raged on long before 1988.

Prior to confederation the Americans actually reneged on a free trade agreement with Great Britain, and then after confederation John A. Macdonald killed free trade talks with a protectionist National Policy.

Then in the election of 1911, Wilfrid Laurier got booted from office because his opponent, Robert Borden, convinced Canada that free trade was the first step to the U.S. bringing Canada into its union.

While so far NAFTA has not led to our American neighbours attempting an actual invasion, economists continue to say that it is too soon to tell what the long-term effects of NAFTA will be on the economy and industries of Canada.

However, in recent years we have seen its ugly head start to rear with the mass exodus of Canadian companies across the border.

Whether it’s from the manufacturing sector or just control by foreign investors, Canadians are slowly losing control of their companies.

Recently, we’ve seen a new repercussion that some are trying to sell as a positive, while others are decrying as a loss of a Canadian institution: Burger King is buying Tim Horton’s.

It sounds like a match made in corporate capitalist hell.

While it’s not the first time that

Rather than putting the interests of people first, free trade puts the interests of corporations first.

Tim Horton’s has engaged in a merger, this time is a little different because rather than a foreign company trying to buy out our Canadian institution, Burger King is trying to buy in to Canada for tax reasons.

It’s a funny proposition considering recent political debates. Rather than Canadian companies trying to hide their money overseas to avoid Canadian taxes, it’s an American company running to us to get away from Uncle Sam. One could even argue that it looks like we’ve become the tax haven in this situation. However, it is really not the case here.

Yes, Canada will get a marginal bump due to this merger. Burger King coming here does represent an investment and while the company will still be operating in the U.S., it will be paying its primary corporate taxes to the Canadian government instead.

However, if anyone thinks they won’t just join the bandwagon of Canadian companies already hiding in tax shelters they are deluding themselves.

This deal is not simply two companies merging; it is one Brazilian hedge fund that bought Burger King four years ago now attempting to buy Tim Horton’s to provide their other assets with a tax shelter.

It is NAFTA rearing its head for the detriment of both countries and for the benefit of a foreign investment fund.

It is capitalism run amok and it is exactly what was intended with the free trade negotiations almost 30 years ago.

Rather than putting the interests of people first, free trade puts the interests of corporations first.

It makes me fear for the future, which our government has spent the past decade negotiating new pacts across the world. Burger King is just the tip of the iceberg.

I am on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr seven days a week for a couple of hours every day. Every time I log on I see posts about some cause people have shared and are talking about.

People share sad videos about abandoned puppies and homeless people, or about global warming and cancer or they try to make people feel guilty for not sharing posts.

It occurred to me that every time I see one of these posts, it may just be a reason for people to garner attention for themselves.

I saw people who shared ALS Ice Bucket Challenge videos, but never actually did the challenge themselves.

To me, this is an attention-seeking

tactic, where people share information about a cause, but won’t do anything about it themselves. They share seemingly in the hope that someone else will see it and do something about it so they don’t have to.

The Internet is a beautiful place and pretty much anything you can imagine is online somewhere, but more importantly, it’s a place where information can be shared far and wide in only a matter of seconds by clicking your mouse.

There are so many avenues for people who want to help make the world a better place, such as websites like Change.org or other websites for charitable organizations.

However, more often than not I see people posting information about one cause or another without seeing them rally to it.

It’s one thing to post a video about the issue of homelessness in our society today, but it’s another thing entirely to actually fight for the cause and really light a fire under the people who would normally turn the other cheek in the real world.

In reality they are simply doing it to deceive others into believing they are a part of something important.

Many people today are guilty of this weird obsession with themselves and with an incessant need to get attention from people, up to a point where they make it seem like they are sympathetic towards a cause just so people will tell them how brave they are or how awesome it is that they are supporting something.

In reality they are simply doing it to deceive others into believing they are a part of something important.

The Internet is a gift but it doesn’t seem like many people are using it as a force of good.

28 •

Sports

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 Sports Editor Josh Peters

soccer

Women’s soccer starting strong Drew yates staff writer

Wilfrid Laurier University’s women’s soccer has come out firing this season with three victories and one loss, just one year after claiming the Ontario University Athletics title.

At the forefront of the team is the leading scorer in the OUA last season, Emily Brown. Last year, she netted 18 goals, and this season she already has six in her first four games.

The first two games were on Aug. 30 and 31 against the Windsor Lancers and the Waterloo Warriors. They won 5-0 and 4-0 respectively.

After the two victories, head coach Barry MacLean reflected on what Brown means to the team.

“Emily’s gotten better every year.

The goals aren’t really a reflection of how she’s playing now. She keeps us in possession, she holds the ball for us, and her tactical awareness is better” he said.

Brown spoke on getting the season started on a high note after their second win against Waterloo.

“We made a statement with a 5-0 win and we wanted to come out strong and kind of set the tone of the season. We have a strong first game to work off of, and we hope we will

heather davidson/file photo

women’s soccer’s Emily Brown scored six goals in four games, after leading the league with 18 goals last year.

get stronger from here,” she said.

On Sept. 6 and 7 the team brought their two straight victories to the Western Mustangs and then the Guelph Gryphons.

The weekend got off to a rough start, as the Hawks were unable to score against the undefeated Mustangs. It was a rematch of last year’s

OUA final and they dropped the contest 2-0, despite a strong effort on the field.

The next day was a more familiar story for the Hawks, as Brown opened the scoring against the Gryphons in the first half.

Laurier’s offense got rolling in the second half with forward Nicole

Lyon, and midfielders Dajana Solomun and Julie Maheu scoring to put the Hawks up 4-0.

Solomun scored her first goal as a Hawk on Sunday and Brown would add an extra tally in the final minutes of the game for her sixth.

After losing her flawless record against the Mustangs, goalkeeper

soccer

Leaving room for improvement Men’s soccer looks to strengthen mentality after an average start to the year drew yates staff writer

“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” That’s the message head coach Mario Halapir had for the Wilfrid Laurier University men’s soccer team as they travelled to face two high-caliber opponents, the Western Mustangs and the Guelph Gryphons this past weekend The young squad held their own, coming out of the contest versus Western in a 2-2 finish, but couldn’t pull out the win against Guelph on Sunday, dropping 2-1 on a Gryphon goal in the final minute.

The Hawks are now 1-2-1 to start off their season.

On Aug. 30, during their season opener, the Hawks fell to the Windsor Lancers in a 3-1 decision, with Tommy Sitaridis scoring the lone goal.

They would rebound back on Aug. 31 to capture their first win of the season against their Waterloo rivals 3-1.

Although Halapir thinks it would be nice to start and finish the season strong, he knows there will be a learning curve coming into this season, as the team is young and must adjust to multiple systems of play.

“The inexperience is going to show against the more experienced and the better quality teams,” he said.

“We are really young this year,” Sitaridis said. “We just have to keep working.”

At one point during the game against Windsor, there were 10 firstyear Hawks on the field during the second half.

Despite their start, coach Halapir feels confident about the team this year.

He is already seeing vast improvements in the squad this year than in

“Belief that we can do it is not there, I think it’s going to take a bit of time to get there. “

-Mario Halapir, head coach

previous years.

According to Halapir, the ability to play soccer and the desire to play, train and work hard to achieve the team’s goal are key improvements that he has noticed in this Laurier squad.

He also realizes that it’s going to take time to be an elite team.

“Belief that we can do it is not there, I think it’s going to take a bit of time to get there,” he said.

The team’s biggest challenge is going to be able to gel with one another in order to find the best combinations that will work on the field so they can start finding success and consistency throughout the rest of the season.

Another thing that was missing during the game was the ability to finish their chances.

According to Halapir, it will also take time to develop that instinct to finish off the team at the end of the game.

Halapir was confident that the team will be able to get to the point where they find success.

He thinks that getting the players in the right mindset willl take some time “I think there’s more will, and more desire to get to that point where we have the right mentality to do it, it’s just a matter of how quickly we can get there,” he said.

heather davidson/File photo

Men’s soccer opens the season 1-2-1 after their first two weekends of play.

Maggie Carmichael returned to form, shutting the door and stopping all three shots against the Gryphons.

Although starting the season off on a solid note is important, McLean isn’t worried about getting results at the moment.

He noted his main concern is getting good performances out of the players and trying to build on that.

He is confident about the team coming into this season and realizes their potential.

“We’re very strong in pretty much every position and we got good backups, so we got a lot of depth this year.”

Brown agreed that team performance is crucial to their success down the road.

“I think our focus is going to be on a good performance. I think we need to stay at our top level and play to the best of our abilities and ultimately get that win because that’s what’s important,” she explained.

The Golden Hawks continue their season by travelling to Sault Saint Marie to face newcomers to the OUA, the Algoma Thunderbirds, in a doubleheader.

The Thunderbirds have allowed 58 goals this season and scored none.

They take to the pitch on Sept. 13 at 1 p.m.

SPORTS • 29

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

FOOTBALL BATTLE OF WATERLOO

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30 • sports

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Rugby

Men’s rugby beginning to rebuild After a winless season last year, the team gets off on a better start with their first win of the year Josh peters sports editor

Will huang/photo editor

Men’s rugby played against Queen’s in their second game of the season, losing the game by a final score of 53-0.

The tide is slowly beginning to turn for the Wilfrid Laurier University men’s rugby team.

A season after failing to win a single game, the team posted a 23-14 win over the Waterloo Warriors in their first game of the season on Sept. 3.

However, this past weekend the Golden Hawks fell steeply to the reigning Ontario University Athletics champions, the Queen’s Gaels.

McLeod took over the squad for this season, and one of his main goals is to change the attitude amongst the team. He believes a new mentality is starting to take hold.

“The culture has to change and it is beginning to. I think the belief system here was that we just show up and get our sweaters, socks and shorts and that’s it. I think that’s changed to ‘what do we have to do to win,’ ” he said.

He also believes the players are taking to his no-nonsense approach to coaching so far “I think it’s the physicality that the guys are bringing. No one’s given up … the guys are enjoying the practices and realize that I am not going to screw around and that we are here to win, and I think they want that,” he said.

McLeod did not see the game against the Gaels as a disappointment, but rather as an opportunity to give some of his players a chance to

play against a top level team.

“I put some bodies on the field that I knew weren’t quite ready for that level … That level is where we need to get to as a team and I think it was very valuable for them to get that run and I think they performed very well,” he said.

The game against Queen’s was a perfect example of the attitude change on the team, from what McLeod was hearing from the players.

“Some of the comments I heard were ‘against Queen’s last year we could not put two phases together.’

Watching the game, we put at least six or seven together at a time,” he said.

Two games into the year, this team already has improved on their campaign compared to a season ago and is looking to shake off their loss this past weekend and get back above .500.

This weekend, the McMaster Marauders will come to University Stadium to face the Golden Hawks.

The Marauders are 2-0 after defeating The Royal Military College of Canada and Waterloo University in their first two games. McLeod was very clear about his expectations coming into the weekend.

“I’ve watched Mac play and they are no better than us … we certainly should be competitive in that game and I expect us, if we play as we can, to win the game,” he said The game against McMaster is on Sept. 14 at 1 p.m.

SPORTS • 31

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014 FOOTBALL

HEATHER DAVIDSON/PHOTO EDITOR

Men’s football battled Windsor on Saturday Sept. 6, losing the game after allowing a touchdown with 39 seconds remaining, making their record one win and one loss to start the season .

Hawks 1-1 after season openers JOSH PETERS SPORTS EDITOR

Last week was an emotional roller coaster for the Wilfrid Laurier University football team.

They experienced a rush of confidence after dominating the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 53 to 17.

Only five days later, they travelled four hours to face the Windsor Lancers and suffered a devastating last minute loss in the fourth quarter.

According to head coach Michael Faulds, a short practice week after a huge win against Toronto may have worked against them coming into their second game.

“There was a little bit of too much hype around campus this last week and we had a good week of practice, but not the best week of practice we’ve had,” he said.

Two games into the season, the Hawks have a lot to be proud of, but also some areas of concern.

On the plus side, they got into the win column right away this year, squashing the image of the one and seven team from last year.

On offense, running back Dillon Campbell has rushed 470 yards in two games, including 293 in a record-breaking game against Toronto.

Quarterback James Fracas has been the picture of consistency at the quarterback position and has thrown 548 yards in the first two games.

He sports a 77.8 per cent pass completion percentage, trailing behind only Will Finch of the Western Mustangs at 84%.

Defensively, the team leads Ontario University Athletics in sacks with eight, four of which came in one game from one player: defensive end Kwaku Boateng.

Ese Mrabure-Ajufo and Chris Ackie have also shown off the speed of Laurier’s defense so far this season.

Ajufo has recorded two tackles this season, and both of them have been sacks, resulting in a total of 13 yards lost for the opposing teams.

In Windsor, Ackie used his speed to recover an on side kick, and set the Golden Hawks up for their second

“We‘re ready. Pretty much all we need to do is keep our heads clear.”

-James Fracas, quarterback

touch down one minute.

Kicker Ronnie Pfeffer is also leading OUA in the farthest average punt distance with 45.7.

He also is second in the OUA in number of field goals made, making six of his seven attempts., including a kick from 49 yards out.

However, there are still some kinks to work out for the club, according to Faulds.

“We have to be more consistent on both sides of the ball,” he said, following the loss to Windsor.

“We can play better football and we are going to learn from this.”

The Hawks had a tough time containing fifth-year Windsor quarterback Austin Kennedy on Saturday, and had a massive breakdown in coverage that lead to the game-winning score.

The club also felt a little banged up after the loss, making staying healthy a priority.one of the team’s priorities fir the week.

Campbell was forced to leave the game for a couple of plays after taking a hard hit.

Kick returner, Will Pitt-Doe was hit hard and forced out of the game in the first half, forcing Marcus Arkarakas to come in as a replacement returner.

Additionally, Kwaku Boateng suffered a hip pointer, despite playing for most of the game.

“It was a really physical game… at least now we have a full week of prep,” Faulds said.

“We’ll be healthy come next Saturday.”

What is left to be determined now is how the team will deal with the adversity of the tough loss, especially

as their next three games are against the three lowest ranked teams in the OUA. They face the University of Waterloo on Sept. 13, followed by a bye week.

They then take on Carleton University for Homecoming on Sept. 27

and York University, come to town on Oct. 4.

Fracas believes the next few weeks are going to be about staying strong mentally.

“We’re ready. Pretty much all we need to do is keep our heads clear,” he said.

Faulds believes playing Waterloo will be good for the team going forward.

“I think it is going to motivate our guys more. We need the best week of practice coming up. Waterloo is our cross town rival, and they are going to be excited to play us,” he said.

32 • sports

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

LACROSSE

Orth returns to coach lacrosse josh peters sports editor

At the Wilfrid Laurier University women’s lacrosse practice on September 8, a familiar face graced the sidelines of University Stadium.

Head coach Lynn Orth made her return after missing a year due to illness.

“It’s awesome. It’s great. I miss these girls so much. I missed them during the summer, but I missed them more when I didn’t see them as much last year,” she said.

Cancer forced Orth, who has coached for 16 seasons at Laurier and claimed eight Ontario University Athletics championships, to take a year off from coaching.

The news took a toll on the team last year, however they managed to capture OUA bronze, a spot ahead of their finish in 2012. Former player Jody Garibaldi ended up stepping in as the interim head coach.

When the team heard the news that their coach would not be joining them last year, fourth-year Sara Hatch said staying strong mentally was huge for the team.

“I think the biggest thing was trying not to lose ourselves and lose our team. We are a really strong team, and I think we proved that,” she said.

The team faced a very emotional season, and according to fifth-year Shelby O’Ryan, the experience of playing without their coach was something that brought the girls together.

“Honestly we grew together so much through the course of the year after everything that happened. We are stronger as a whole. We respect each other more and we rely on each other more,” she said.

O’Ryan also believed that it was Orth’s way of coaching that made the

heather davidson/photo editor

Lynn Orth looks on at the women’s lacrosse practice on Monday evening, after missing the entire season last year when she found out she had cancer.

“It’s awesome. It’s great. I miss these girls so much.”

-Lynn Orth, head coach

transition to playing without her so smooth.

“She knows what she wants and

she makes sure that we know our expectations. It never wavers, it never changes and it is very clear to us from the start. She is an excellent leader,” said O’Ryan.

Orth attributed her success in coaching to allowing the players to have their voice.

“I have done it for 16 years and I pretty much fine tuned how I think it should go. I’ve always allowed the girls to have input and to feel free to say anything or to tell me they do not want to do things a certain way,” she said.

The team finished fifth in the

province in 2011, fourth in 2012 and according to Hatch, they feel ready to make that next step to the OUA finals this year.

“100 percent, I definitely do [think we can] because going from fifth to third in three years is a big jump.

Some teams just float around where they are, but the fact that we were able to improve is great,” she said.

O’Ryan thinks the team chemistry will be a contributing factor in getting to the next level.

“We are all on the same page as opposed to some of us being more fit than others, or more focused than

others,” she said.

The team only has two rookies this year, with the majority of the core players returning, which Orth thinks will help them throughout the year.

“They are all strong players and strong team players as well,” she said.

“They all know each other really well and know their strengths and weaknesses, so it’ll be really good.”

Just a season after so much was left unknown, women’s lacrosse looks to have a steady and exciting year ahead.

They open their season on Sept. 13 in Guelph.

baseball

Ryerson Rams swept in double-header

heather davidson/photo editor

men’s baseball scored a total of 13 runs in the two games against the Ryerson Rams on Sunday, winning both games and sweeping the series to officially begin their 2014 regular season.

Shelby Blackley campus news editor

Last October, the Wilfrid Laurier men’s baseball team claimed their first Ontario University Athletics banner in school history, shocking the top-seeded Brock Badgers. With the 2014 campaign underway, bench boss Ballantyne is focusing on the process to that same end goal.

“We know what it takes to win after being there last year,” he said.

“We know that we’re not going to win the championship on September 6 or September 7, it’s going to be late into October.”

“It’s really about trying to gel at

the right time and trying to pull it together near the end.”

They started off their season in the right direction, sweeping their doubleheader against the Ryerson Rams Sunday afternoon.

In their first matchup of the regular season after playing 10 preseason games and finishing 4-6, the Hawks defeated the Rams 6-2 and 7-0.

Ballantyne stressed that team chemistry and key performances were the reasons that the Hawks came out on top.

“We had 10 preseason games so it’s not like it’s the first time we’ve been on the field together,” Ballantyne said. “Our strength is our

starting pitching and we saw that today with Jordan [Petruska] and Brett [Van Pelt] giving us two great outings. It’s a great start, for sure.”

Pitching was the strength for Laurier, as Petruska worked eight innings and gave up one run on three hits with a single walk and eight strikeouts in the first game. His relief, Zach Lawrence, gave up one unearned run.

In the second game, Van Pelt put on a performance good enough to earn him OUA athlete of the week honours, as he pitched a complete game shutout giving up two hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts.

Van Pelt, a fifth-year pitcher who

was instrumental in the OUA championship win last season, believes the Hawks have a strong core group made up of a large group of rookies and only six fourth-year players.

“It was good to get out there and get two wins and get our season going to hopefully capture our ultimate goal again this year,” he said.

“I think if we put everything together, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be back in that championship game.”

Jonathan Brouse, last year’s winner of the Laurier President’s Award for top male athlete, went 1-for-5 with a stolen base in the first game and 1-for-3 with two runs score,

two stolen bases and a walk in the second game.

Last season, the Hawks drifted along the .500 margin for the first 10 games before starting to come together. With a season stretching into mid-October, Ballantyne stressed that the focus is fixing the tweaks heading into the end of the season.

“We’re building up to that, not getting too high, not getting too low and making sure we’re playing our best at the end of the year,” he said.

Laurier’s next regular season action is this Saturday when they host the Waterloo Warriors at Bechtel Park. Game times are 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.